As sad as it is, the Caitlin Clark fad is going to die down and people are going to realize that the WNBA isn't what they think it is, and all the hype and hysteria will be a thing of the past, possibly by this time next year. And this isn't the first time we've seen elite talents come through college basketball, Diana Tarausi was absolutely elite when she came out of UConn, and despite ESPN trying to hype it up, it never went anywhere in the WNBA. And the same thing happens with women's soccer, where they're still badly struggling to get viewership numbers in the NWSL despite the US and Canada arguably having the top crop of talent in the world. Did you know that league is in its 12th season already? Lack of awareness isn't for ESPN trying.
I get why ESPN is trying to do this, they'll continue trying to push this as hard as long as they can because they are bleeding money and really need some of this investment into women's sports to pay off, but I'm just not convinced its ever really going to take off. Too much of a history where people just tune out once these women move on from college.