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Caitlin Clark, Aaron Judge Popularity Debate Deemed 'Disrespectful' by Sportscaster

Sportscasters are at odds over whether Caitlin Clark or Aaron Judge is more popular.

Grant Young

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark made waves when she attended Yankee Stadium last Saturday to watch the New York Yankees take on the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers.

In addition to receiving a full stadium tour and joining YES Network's broadcast during the game, Clark also met up with Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, and the two posed for a photo together.

Seeing these two sports superstars together prompted a heated debate between sports media personalities Dan Beyer and Kerry Rhodes about whether Clark or Judge is more popular on a recent Fox Sports Radio episode.

"I know we are a prisoner of the Caitlin Clark moment," Beyer said in the episode (a portion of which was clipped off on X). "But there is no way that she is more popular than Aaron Judge.

"That is absurd to say. That is disrespectful to an MVP of Major League Baseball," Beyer continued. "A six-time All-Star, a three-time Silver Slugger, a Rookie of the Year.

Rhodes then refuted Beyer's sentiment, saying, "[Clark] is more famous than [Judge]. I think she's more famous than Judge right now."

While there's no objective gauge for popularity or fame, one of the most commonly used metrics is Instagram followers.

Clark currently has 2.8 million Instagram followers. Judge, on the other hand, has 1.7 million followers.

However, one potential argument for Judge is that he'd surely be much more recognizable on the street than Clark because he's 6'7".

Regardless of which of these two sports juggernauts are more popular, both have become the faces of their respective sports and still appear to be improving.

Published
Grant Young

GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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