Leading WNBL figures have declared 2024 to be the year of women’s basketball as Caitlin Clark drives unprecedented interest in the US and the Australian league enjoys surging investor, commercial and broadcaster support.

The WNBL tips off next week when new club Geelong United take on Townsville on Wednesday, while 9Go’s broadcast of Sydney v Canberra the following Sunday will be the first match shown on a free-to-air main channel in five years.

The head of the WNBL, Christy Collier-Hill, said at the season launch in Melbourne on Wednesday that the league’s commercial revenue – led by new deals with Ford, Foot Locker and Latina Fresh – has increased 61% this year.

“Last year was definitely the year of women’s football with the World Cup, the global interest and growth and recognition, and all of the leagues across the world growing,” she said. “This year, 100% it’s the year of women’s basketball.”

In the US, WNBA TV ratings have skyrocketed partly thanks to the phenomenal interest in Caitlin Clark. The deciding finals game earlier this week, in which the Minnesota Lynx’s Australian Alanna Smith was unable to stop the New York Liberty of her Opals coach Sandy Brondello, was the highest-rated WNBA finals game since 1999, the period of the league’s early buzz.

“It’s not all down to Caitlin Clark, but certainly a big part of it is,” Collier-Hill said. “The growth of the WNBA has been absolutely phenomenal and that flow-on effect helps the sport grow globally, and we are the second best league in the world.”

Ten of Australia’s Paris Olympians will play in the WNBL this year, with many returning from overseas contracts. They will be joined by former No 1 WNBA draft pick Charli Collier who has signed for Canberra. WNBL highlights will appear on the WNBA app and website.

Perth Lynx’s Anneli Maley, who played 3×3 for Australia in Paris, said the players are excited about the increasing visibility.

“We know it’s only a matter of time before the hype of women’s basketball reaches the shores of Australia, and it already has grown so much in the last couple years,” she said. “We have so much space to grow into, seeing what the game has turned into overseas.”

Minimum pay for the six-month season has increased this year from $20,000 to $23,000 in a one-year deal struck between the league and its players.

A change in ownership of the league is planned from next season, when Basketball Australia will hand over the reins to a group led by Tesla chair Robyn Denholm and Larry Kestelman’s NBL company.

“We as women and as incredible athletes have paved the way for the pathways to begin, for it to be a more sustainable career for the girls coming after us, and it’s all about the visibility,” Maley said.

Opal Isobel Borlase, 20, said she was going to use this season for Adelaide to help develop her game, ahead of a planned push for a WNBA place in coming years.

“Getting into the league is hard and timing it right is important, because you don’t want to go and then get cut straight away,” she said.

The 2023-24 All-WNBL first teamer cited the experienced of Clark – who was successful this year as a 22-year-old rookie – as well as Opals teammate Jade Melbourne, who at the same age became a reliable contributor for the Washington Mystics in the WNBA this year.

Atlanta selected Borlase with the 20th pick in this year’s WNBA draft, and the South Australian said she remains in contact with the franchise. “My feedback from Atlanta was watch more basketball, so I watched a lot of WNBA this year,” she said.

In the finals, a contentious foul on Smith helped send the winner-takes-all game five to overtime, ultimately leading to the Liberty’s win. Borlase was in no doubt about the call. “Not a foul, not a foul” she said.