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Journalist hilariously fails claiming WNBA's popularity isn't affected by Caitlin Clark's playoff exit

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Cite

Root, J. (2026, October 5). Journalist hilariously fails claiming WNBA's popularity isn't affected by Caitlin Clark's playoff exit. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/journalist-hilariously-fails-claiming-wnbas-popularity-isnt-affected-caitlin-clarks-playoff-exit

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-10-05 · by Jon Root

Quick Summary

A journalist and former NBA player, Etan Thomas, claimed in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Caitlin Clark’s absence from the WNBA playoffs would not impact attendance or viewership. However, critics pointed out discrepancies in his claims, noting that while Game 1 of the WNBA Semifinals between the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty had announced attendance of 9,745 at State Farm Arena, which holds almost 17,000 fans, much of the upper bowl was empty. Thomas’s post drew ridicule online, with users highlighting that Clark’s presence typically results in full arenas and high viewership numbers.
Written by AI on 2026-10-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Jon Root, a journalist for Fox News, criticized Etan Thomas, a retired NBA player and activist, for claiming that the popularity of the WNBA would not be affected by the playoff exit of star player Caitlin Clark. Root argued that Clark is one of the most popular athletes in America, with her jersey sales outperforming those of LeBron James since 2024. Every top 15 WNBA broadcast this season featured a game involving Clark, and every game she played was sold out. Thomas posted a video on X suggesting that support for the league would drop significantly without Clark, but Root dismissed this as an attempt to discredit her influence, which he deemed crucial for driving audience engagement.

Written for “WNBA Popularity Debate” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 WNBA Popularity Debate
Sports · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
Hedges 9 of 54 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Caitlin Clark's impact on WNBA and fan perceptions, not a single specific incident.”
The Guardian
Hedges 3 of 31 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of WNBA issues without focusing on the same specific incident or time.”
Fox News
Hedges 12 of 305 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses the broader impact of Caitlin Clark's season on the WNBA, while Article B focuses specifically on a journalist's claim regarding the effect of her playoff exit.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
42
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
2 of 42 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
68/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
2
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6453 article(s) · 12 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 12 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jon Root
25 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Jon Root
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 25 articles by Jon Root →

Topics

America ESPN Fever NBA WNBA

Subjects

Thomas PERSON · 6× Caitlin Clark PERSON · 5× Clark PERSON · 4× WNBA ORG · 4× Fever ORG · 3× ESPN ORG · 2× Etan Thomas PERSON · 2× America GPE · 1× LeBron James' PERSON · 1× NBA ORG · 1×

Narrative

Again, this is the problem with journalists and activists like Etan Thomas, their minds are so warped by their political worldview that they can't even comprehend that Angel Reese, A'ja Wilson, and other players, just don't come remotely close to driving audiences to buy tickets and tune into games like Caitlin Clark.
framing: assertive · carried by 2 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-05
🔮 Thomas framed it as a sellout, posting on X saying sarcastically, "Nobody will watch the WNBA playoffs now that Caitlin Clark is no longer playing.

Claims (42 extracted, 2 hedged)

Watching left-wing media try to discredit Caitlin Clark and her dedicated fan base has been a tale as old as her rookie season. asserted
media → watch → season
The fact remains that Clark is one of the most popular athletes in America. asserted
Clark → remain → America
Her jersey sales have outdone LeBron James' since 2024, every single one of the top 15 WNBA broadcasts this season was one of her games, and every game she has played in has been a sellout. asserted
she → outdo → games
She is one of the most influential, transcendent sports figures of all time, so claiming that her playoff exit won't affect attendance and viewership asserted
exit → claim → attendance
That's what journalist, activist, and retired NBA player Etan Thomas tried to do on Monday morning. asserted
journalist → retire → morning
Spoiler alert: He failed miserably. asserted
He → fail → ?
Thomas posted a video of the crowd from Game 1 of the WNBA Semifinals between the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty. asserted
Thomas → post → Dream
At first glance, it looks like a sizable, raucous group waving their rally towels, but looks can be deceiving. asserted
looks → look → towels
Thomas framed it as a sellout, posting on X saying sarcastically, "Nobody will watch the WNBA playoffs now that Caitlin Clark is no longer playing. asserted
Clark → frame → playoffs
Support will plummet. asserted
Support → plummet → ?
Viewership will plunge. asserted
Viewership → plunge → ?
She is the only driving force that brings out fans." asserted
that → drive → fans
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. uncertain
page → contain → partners
If you sign up or place a wager, FOX News may be compensated. uncertain
News → sign → wager
This content was created by a team that works independently from the FOX newsroom. asserted
that → create → newsroom
If you take a look up from the lower bowl, above the suites, you'll realize that the entire upper bowl is tarped off. asserted
bowl → take → suites
State Farm Arena holds almost 17,000 fans, but the announced attendance for the game was 9,745. asserted
attendance → hold → game
Why would they do that, Etan? asserted
they → do → that
Maybe because they don't have Caitlin Clark coming to town. asserted
Clark → have → town
This level of delusion and Caitlin Clark hate must be studied. asserted
level → study → delusion
It's clearly warped Thomas' mind because he really thought he was cooking here. asserted
he → warp → mind
As you can imagine, Thomas got roasted in the replies. asserted
Thomas → imagine → replies
One X user broke down the numbers in regards to attendance and viewership. asserted
user → break → attendance
It's a glorious way to show that Thomas did not think this post through before sharing. asserted
Thomas → show → post
"The attendance when they (Atlanta Dream) played the Fever this year in non playoff action...June 20, 2026: 17,044 and August 16, 2026: 17,044. asserted
they → play → action
They should have kept their playoff game at Gateway because they more than likely lost money for moving to the bigger venue and leaving 7,000+ seats empty!!! asserted
they → keep → seats
viewership numbers are not out but I highly doubt they will come close to August 16, 2026 (Dream vs. Fever at State Farm Arena): 2.6 million viewers on ESPN. asserted
they → doubt → ESPN
ESPN called it the most-watched WNBA game ever on cable." asserted
ESPN → call → cable
Another user hysterically responded to the post by using a reference from The Lion King saying, "Look, son. asserted
user → respond → King
the darkness touches asserted
darkness → touch → ?
… those are seats that weren’t filled." asserted
that → fill → ?
I'll be honest, that made me laugh out loud. asserted
me → make → ?
At this point, Thomas needs to just log off. asserted
Thomas → need → point
He clearly has it out for Clark, her fans, and Sophie Cunningham. asserted
He → have → Clark
He famously claimed that Cunningham had "White privilege" after she was flagrantly fouled by the Chicago Sky's DiJonai Carrington earlier this season. asserted
she → claim → Carrington
Carrington, after being ejected, posted on Threads: "WHITE PRIVILEGE" while tagging the Indiana Fever. asserted
Carrington → eject → Fever
Again, this is the problem with journalists and activists like Etan Thomas, their minds are so warped by their political worldview that they can't even comprehend that Angel Reese, A'ja Wilson, and other players, just don't come remotely close to driving audiences to buy tickets and tune into games like Caitlin Clark. asserted
audiences → comprehend → Clark
Reese has improved her game and become a Defensive Player of the Year. asserted
Reese → improve → Year
Wilson continues to dominate the stat sheet, securing her fourth WNBA MVP this season. asserted
Wilson → continue → MVP
But, they don't sell shoes, tickets, and attract eyeballs for their games like Clark. asserted
they → sell → Clark
…and 2 more, not listed.
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