The WNBA is changing and the rookies are the reason.

Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink and many other famous rookies are changing not only the numbers but are pushing the league further into the mainstream.

Most recently, the WNBA has announced plans to add a new team in the Oakland area, a counterpart to the Golden State Warriors, this move happened after only moments of many of the most popular rookies have generated buzz.

In the first regular-season game for the Indiana Fevers, the team that drafted Caitlin Clark, the viewership record for the WNBA was broken. And players like Angel Reese who went to the Chicago Sky have changed where her games are being played purely because of the fans she brings in.

Bennett Teitle a junior who was an avid watcher of this year’s WNCAA tournaments praises the rookies and the success they’ve brought, “It was talked about before the draft and this most recent WNCAA tournament, but what this WNBA rookie class has done is nothing short of special, and they have a chance to grow the game tenfold.”

According to Google search trends, the game of women’s basketball has never been bigger which is great news for the game, but when new fans started paying attention to the sport they were shocked.

From the time the WNBA was created until recently, the players have never had their own charter flights, high-quality practice facilities and rarely even shoe deals. 

But that changed this year when new fans saw the poor conditions of many of the WNBA team’s transportation and equipment they became upset and demanded better from the association and it worked. Deen Nair a freshman at UCSD talks about seeing more WNBA players in advertisements, “When I see a Nike ad or a Subway ad I usually end up seeing Caitlin Clark or another women’s basketball player and that’s really different than even just a year ago.” 

The players got more shoe deals, more advertisements, they started flying charter airplanes and in got better practice facilities. The reason for all of this is because of these electrifying rookies who through their college careers garnered massive respect and fame and brought it over to the big leagues to make the changes that needed to be made.