Basketball phenom Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes will open their own bar two days after they take on the Gophers in front of a sold-out crowd at Williams Arena.
MINNEAPOLIS — There's no doubt there will be a brief surge in the popularity of women's sports in Minnesota Wednesday night.
That's when Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes basketball teammates will take on the Minnesota Gophers at Williams Arena. You can watch all the action on his Peacock at 8 p.m.
Games may be sold out, but this explosive growth in women's sports is not a temporary trend. Experts say investing in female athletes is paying off big everywhere.
“Caitlin Clark is everywhere, so people can't avoid her,” says Gillian Hickok, owner of A Bar of Their Own. “She truly is a generational talent.”
Hiscock's new venture is the state's first women's sports bar, modeled after The Sports Bra, which opened a few years ago in Portland, Oregon. Opens Friday at noon.
“People who frequent this place have been looking for something like this to exist for years,” Hiscock said. “I think we will be ready at the right time and place.”
The explosion in women's sports is no surprise, but it's also thanks to Clark, who is setting shooting records and filling arenas.
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“Caitlin Clark is an example of what happens when you invest in women's sports,” said Dunja Antonovic, assistant professor of sport sociology at the University of Minnesota. She studies how sports impact girls and women in the school's Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sports.
“Change is not always linear. Just because we are seeing progress in some areas does not mean all changes are happening at the same time,” Antonovich said. “However, it is important to note that there is interest in women’s sports across demographic categories.”
Primary revenue for women's sports should reach more than $1 billion this year, three times what it was three years ago, proving profitable but still largely unaffordable.
“We need to put every streaming service in the sun because that's how games are played right now,” Hickok said. “That's why it's so hard to be a casual female sports fan, and why most people don't try.”
Starting this weekend, however, you can expect Hiscock to continue to create movement and not just moments.
“This is a complete acknowledgment of how we got here, but it doesn’t settle where we are,” she said.
It's important to note that the rise of women's sports isn't specific to Minnesota. From the four-time championship-winning Lynx to the new pro hockey and soccer teams, all drawing crowds and ratings.
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