The $64 Question: Angel Reese’s Signature Shoe Launch Implodes, Exposing the WNBA’s Dire Reliance on a Sidelined Caitlin Clark
The stage was set for WNBA All-Star weekend, 2025. It was supposed to be a triumph for Angel Reese—the highly anticipated debut of her signature Reebok sneaker, the “Angel Reese 1,” strategically timed for maximum visibility in the heart of basketball. But instead of the celebratory fireworks and fanfare she expected, Reese was met with a brutal, humiliating reality check. Her marketing blitz—a tone-deaf, aggressive campaign designed to steal the spotlight in Indianapolis—imploded spectacularly, exposing the devastating truth that true stardom cannot be manufactured and that without Caitlin Clark, the league’s foundational hype is simply vapor.

The numbers don’t just tell a story; they deliver a savage, undeniable verdict: Angel Reese’s entire marketing push failed because it was built not on her own legacy, but on the borrowed shine of her rival.

The Marketing Misread: Claiming a City in Absentia
Angel Reese’s strategy for the launch of her new shoe, titled the “Angel Reese 1” and released in flashy colorways like Diamond Dust and Maybounds, was clear: ride the wave of the Clark-Reese rivalry. She aligned her launch with the All-Star game in Indianapolis, the home of the Indiana Fever and, critically, Caitlin Clark. The promotional materials were aggressive and confrontational, featuring billboards and social media posts emblazoned with phrases like “I’m in your city” and “Walk in your trap, take over your trap.”

The intent was to convey dominance, to plant her flag on Clark’s turf and command attention. Reese and Reebok bet everything on the idea that the sheer tension and star-power generated by the two rookies would create a commercial hurricane, translating buzz into shoe sales.

But the execution suffered from a single, catastrophic misread of the situation. Just days before the All-Star game was set to begin, the league’s biggest draw, Caitlin Clark, was ruled out of the game with a groin injury. The player who could turn a quiet midweek game into a national cultural event was suddenly relegated to the sidelines.

The timing could not have been more disastrously revealing. Reese’s bold declaration that she was “taking over” the city came at the exact moment the player she was trying to overshadow couldn’t even suit up to defend it. The campaign instantly pivoted from appearing powerful to looking desperate and tone-deaf. Fans online were quick to mock the situation, suggesting that Reese couldn’t market her own product without clout chasing Clark’s fame, or that she was claiming a crown only through forfeit.

The WNBA’s $64 Problem: Ratings and Ticket Collapse
The fallout from Clark’s injury provided the most comprehensive, public, and brutal audit of star power the WNBA has ever faced. The league’s biggest event was suddenly reduced to a mere exhibition, and the financial consequences were immediate and staggering.

The numbers are the most savage headline of the entire affair:

Viewership Plunge: The 2025 WNBA All-Star game, which Reese intended to headline, saw its viewership nose-dive 36%. In 2024, the game, headlined by Clark, pulled a record-breaking 3.44 million viewers. Without her on the court in 2025, that figure plummeted to just 2.19 million. This decline occurred despite the WNBA’s best efforts to spin the narrative, conveniently ignoring the previous year’s record success, which was driven almost entirely by Clark. It exposed an uncomfortable truth for Commissioner Cathy Engelbert: without Clark, the league’s interest levels revert sharply back toward pre-phenomenon norms.

Ticket Market Collapse: The resale ticket market, the most ruthless barometer of fan excitement, buckled instantly. The “get-in” price for the All-Star game in Indianapolis—Reese’s chosen target for her campaign—took a brutal 48% nose-dive, falling from a staggering $121 to a mere $64 the moment news broke that Clark would not play. Not even the presence of other established stars like A’ja Wilson or Breanna Stewart could prevent the collapse. The message was unmistakable: without Clark, the urgency—and the price premium—disappeared.

The WNBA tried to put lipstick on the situation, pointing to higher numbers in auxiliary events like the skills challenge and three-point contest. But even those incremental gains were interpreted by analysts as mere aftershocks of the Caitlin Clark Effect, with viewers tuning in hoping for a glimpse of the sidelined star or simply consuming content from the ecosystem she had established.

Forced Hype vs. True Authenticity
The contrast between Reese’s shoe launch and Clark’s unparalleled success in the sneaker market is the ultimate cautionary tale in modern sports branding.

Clark, through her authentic connection with fans, her fearless, show-stopping style, and her undeniable impact on the court, has built an empire of her own. Her Nike Kobe 5 Pro sneakers vanished from shelves in minutes, commanding resale prices soaring to $600 from a $190 base. Her deal with Nike—an historic 8-year, $28 million commitment—was not a gamble on hype, but a calculated bet on a generational talent poised to shift culture. Experts project her future signature line could generate over $100 million in revenue.

Angel Reese’s rollout, conversely, felt like a desperate plea for relevance. The “Angel Reese 1” dropped with minimal excitement and even less commercial impact. The campaign came off not as a confident product launch, but as a calculated attempt to attach herself to Clark’s rising rocket ship.

Even Reebok’s own marketing efforts were exposed. Cameras caught NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal openly discussing the brand’s necessity for Reese to wear their gear during her matchups with Clark, tacitly admitting that the brand was banking more on the rivalry’s drama than Reese’s individual star appeal. The marketing was less about elevating Reese and more about attaching her product to the most visible event on the calendar, which Clark created.

The Cost of Misjudging Star Power
By the conclusion of the All-Star weekend, all the flashy billboards and aggressive social media posts had achieved was an embarrassing confirmation of her brand’s over-reliance on a rival. Reese’s strategy proved that you can stage a campaign, but you cannot fake the genuine, magnetic pull that draws millions of viewers and drives ticket prices sky-high.

Her subsequent attempt to frame her enjoyment of the weekend by “shouting out the players”—a thinly veiled attempt to dismiss the very fans in Indianapolis whose money she was trying to attract—only fueled the perception that her focus was on internal league politics rather than authentic fan connection.

Ultimately, the 2025 WNBA All-Star game will not be remembered for Angel Reese’s signature shoe launch. It will be remembered for the moment the WNBA learned the hard, expensive way what the league looks like without its superstar on the floor. The 36% ratings drop, the crushing ticket price collapse, and the muted response to her high-profile campaign all sent the same, deafening message: you cannot manufacture star power, and attempting to build your brand by standing in someone else’s spotlight is a losing game. The $64 question—the deflated ticket price—is the number that truly defines the event, proving that the currency of the WNBA currently runs entirely through Caitlin Clark.