The Caitlin Clark effect comes to Bloomington
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She's a bona fide star. Photo: Matthew Holst/Getty Images
If you're hoping to get a look at basketball phenom Caitlin Clark in action against No. 14 IU at Assembly Hall on Thursday night, you're going to have to pay up.
Driving the news: NCAA women's basketball tickets have seen a boom in sales since the arrival of Clark, Axios' Maxwell Millington reports from data provided by ticket reseller Vivid Seats.
- Thursday's IU women's game against Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes is sold out, so anyone still looking for a ticket will have to go through the secondary market.
What's happening: The West Des Moines native broke the NCAA women's basketball all-time scoring record last week and is averaging 32.8 points per game, 6.9 rebounds and 8.5 assists for the season.
- She's led the Hawkeyes to a 23-3 record and a No. 4 ranking in the Associated Press women's college basketball poll.
By the numbers: Vivid Seats found that Iowa's women's team has seen a 162% increase in the average sold ticket price for home and away regular season games compared to last season, and the average ticket price has increased 207% since Clark joined the team in 2020.
- GA tickets for tonight start at $42 on Vivid Seats.
- Reserved seats, which are being offered for the first time this year for IU women's basketball games, start at $193.
- Compare that to IU's next home game against Maryland March 3, where $12 GA tickets have not sold out and sold-out reserved seats start at $58 on Vivid Seats.
Zoom out: In general, women's college basketball has seen a 46% increase in average sold price this season, and fans are traveling 15% farther compared to last season.
- The average sold price for Iowa women's basketball ($120) is 82% more this season than Iowa men's basketball ($66).
The big picture: Five of the most in-demand tickets for NCAAW games since 2019 have been Iowa's, including:
- Last spring's NCAA Women's Championship game vs. LSU (avg. $364) and games this season vs. Minnesota (avg. $239), Indiana (avg. $237) and Illinois (avg. $217), which takes place Sunday.
Flashback: Clark hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer last year to lift No. 6 Iowa past the No. 2 Hoosiers, who were the Big Ten regular season champions. Iowa went on to win the Big Ten women's basketball tournament.
- In their first meeting this season, Clark dropped 30 points to roll IU, 84-57.
If you go: Thursday's game in Bloomington is a whiteout.
- Doors open at 6pm; tip-off is at 8pm. GA ticket-holders are encouraged to arrive early for a chance at court-level bleacher seats.
- The game will stream live on Peacock.