Ahead of the WNBA season and in the midst of March Madness, New York Liberty CEO Keia Clarke discusses the team’s new deal with Barclays and bringing even more attention to women’s sports.

Opening Bell

New York Liberty CEO: Caitlin Clark Is a ‘Generational Talent’

Earlier today, New York, Liberty and Barclays rang the opening bell as they announced a multi year partnership in which Barclays will become the team's official banking partner. Well, I caught up with New York Liberty, Ceo K Clark. I was, she provided some insight in what this partnership means for the future of both organizations. Take a look. We are incredibly excited to welcome Barclays as our official banking partner. Um And a major part of that partnership includes the Jersey patch. Um Their logo will be on our patch. So, you know, more than just the logo, it gives us an opportunity to really lock arms with them and create programming the community um design year long activations that really are at the heart of what both of our organizations stay true to. Um We're really committed to uh de I initiatives and we really want to make a major impact in the lives of women and, and give me some examples of exactly how you want to do that. Yes, you know, providing opportunities for life skills and enrichment for training um opportunities for networking opportunities um at the Barclays Center. You know, they're also a naming rights partner for the team. And we feel that there's a deeper um channel that we can dive into. Um, now with them being the official and a marquee partner of the team, how important is this partnership? Especially as the season is set to get underway in just a few months. Yes, incredibly important. You know, there are tons of tail winds right now in the heart of women's sports. You know, I think all of our hearts and our minds are tuned toward whether it be March Madness, whether it be, you know, some of the other leagues that are coming online right now. And, um, you know, this attention and this growth is something that we just want to continue to be a part of and doing it with Barclays, just gives us larger tentacles a bigger scope and in terms of gains in viewership or attendees that you're expecting to perhaps come out of this partnership. Is there a goal? Absolutely. We have year over year goals at all, you know, across all Kpis. Um We saw tremendous growth, year over year in partnerships, um in attendance um in ticket sales. And we expect that to continue quantify the growth that you wanna see with this partnership, the growth with this partnership, um, double digit percentage growth. Absolutely. Uh really lofty goals for sure. But, um, we think it's absolutely attainable, especially in the city of New York, went to the heart of Brooklyn. Um, ironically, um what's so special about today is, you know, being at the New York Stock Exchange and being an inaugural W NBA team. Um, one that's been around for 20 28th season. We're going, we're going to do it for New York and we want to do it in a big way. Well, since we are a mid March madness about a month before the official draft, I have to ask you about Phenom Caitlin Clark, number one seed Iowa women's basketball in the NCAA tournament. She is the highest scoring college player of all time male or what does someone like Kaitlin Clark do for women's basketball? Yeah, you know, a generational talent only comes around, you know, um once in a while, I think the beautiful part about basketball is the game is so competitive. Um We're seeing more pivotal and transitional players, people who are ready to come into the league, ready to play. Um But Kaitlin is, uh you know, uh in, in a uh in a um position on her of her own right now. And really, we've seen it at the collegiate level and I absolutely think that'll cross over into the, the professional ranks. Um We actually happen to uh go to Indiana and play them on the 16th and then we'll play them at home for our home opener on May 18th. So I'm very excited to see how her game translates into the pros. Um She is someone that people are coming to watch. Um, and we also believe really heavily in the New York liberty of people coming to watch us too. So be on the lookout for some competitive basketball throughout the entire summer. Throughout the entire W NBA. The New York Stock Exchange has welcomed many, uh, female athletes, many, uh, female sports teams as well. This moment of women's sports escalated interest in it, hopefully more dollars going toward it as well. What do you want to see come out of that? Yeah, there's growth all at all levels. Um, and I, I sincerely hope and think that this is not, uh, a moment in time. I think it's a tipping point. Um, the whole world is watching March Madness right now, as you mentioned. And I think uh a considerable amount of people we will be watching the W NBA when we tip off as well.