Lina Bluder, the Iowa coach, has seen the look. People who have gathered to welcome Clark for the first time flinch when they see her for the first time as Iowa’s bus rolls up to road arenas or hotels.
“It’s similar to the ‘Home Alone’ face,” Bluder remarked to ESPN, alluding to the well-known stance of actor Macaulay Culkin. I had the feeling that it was Caitlin Clark. It’s truly enjoyable to watch.”
Because of Clark’s prominence as a rock star, people are willing to pay more and do more to see her play. Everything picks up when Clark and the Hawkeyes arrive in town.
Iowa’s first appearance away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season — against Virginia Tech on Nov. 9 in Charlotte, North Carolina — drew 15,196 to the Spectrum Center, which game organizers said marked the largest-ever crowd for a women’s game in the state. Three days later, Clark made the shorter trip to Northern Iowa, where she broke Iowa’s career scoring record before the first sellout crowd for a women’s game at the McLeod Center.
Clark started her Big Ten tour to even larger crowds, having helped set a record for attendance at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida and helping to sell out Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum. Fans arrived at Jersey Mike’s Arena ninety minutes before doors opened on January 5 at Rutgers. It was Rutgers’ first women’s advance sellout since 2006, and it was also the first time it wasn’t against UConn, the 11-time national champion.
“I believe a lot of those folks are coming to watch Caitlin and the Hawks play, but a lot of them are coming to see a top-five team play and they want to assist the home team get an upset,” Bluder remarked. “The signs we see, which read, ‘I drove from Canada to see Caitlin Clark,’ make this clear. At Rutgers, I spotted signs from Maine. There are a lot more new admirers out there since they don’t get to see her perform live unless we’re on the East Coast.
“They want to see us play in person, so they go on the road.”
On Jan. 10, Purdue recorded its fourth sellout for a women’s basketball game, as an announced crowd of 14,876 packed into Mackey Arena to see Clark and Iowa. Purdue generated $106,257 in ticket sales for the game, nearly five times more than its average of $21,920. The school made $36,500 in concessions against Iowa, well above its average of $11,500.
Even schools with strong teams have benefited from the mania Clark and Iowa generate. Ohio State, ranked No. 8, opened seating in the upper bowl of the Schottenstein Center for the Iowa game and drew a sellout crowd of 18,660 — a program record and the largest attendance for an indoor women’s game this season — for Iowa’s visit on Jan. 21. (An October exhibition game between Iowa and DePaul at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City drew 55,646 fans, a women’s basketball single-game attendance record.)
“It shows what people are willing to give to watch our team play,” Clark said. “I always want to take time and sign a couple autographs after and try to play the best I can and smile, have fun, because not many people (1) get the chance to come see us play, and (2) a lot of people are spending a lot of time, money and resources to have these opportunities that hopefully will give them memories for the rest of their lives.”
Brian Eshoo and his daughters, Natalie and Audrey, were among those who made the 100-plus-mile drive to Purdue for the Iowa game, from their home in Park Ridge, Illinois. Eshoo knew tickets for Clark’s home games would be tough to land and identified Purdue and Northwestern as realistic alternatives.
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