During Saturday’s Iowa-Iowa State game in Iowa City, CBS Sports broadcasting legend Brad Nessler told a fascinating story about the Caitlin Clark effect.
Clark, an Iowa sports all-time great, has become one of the nation’s most beloved professional athletes since joining the WNBA’s Indiana Fever this past spring.
As Nessler visited a sports bar in Iowa City on Friday night ahead of broadcasting the Hawkeyes-Cyclones game, he noticed that three gigantic screens “the size of a semi-trailer truck” at the bar were playing Friday’s Fever and Minnesota Lynx game.
Apparently, the night’s NFL game wasn’t nearly as important at the sports bar than Iowa fans cheering Clark on in the big leagues.
“They had the Eagles and the Packers on about a 24-inch monitor in two spots,” Nessler recalled. “And every time [Clark] hit a three, the crowd went berserk. And when the game was over, the place emptied out.”
Brad Nessler has a story for you, @CaitlinClark22 pic.twitter.com/qjsVwKObp2
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) September 7, 2024
Nessler said you’d have to be living in a cave to not know who Clark is, and an anecdote like this underscores what tremendous reach she has in the sports world right now.
