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The Indiana Fever became the WNBA’s most popular team as soon as they selected Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft.
This was owed to Clark already being the biggest star in women’s basketball despite never having played in a professional game before. Her historic career with the Iowa Hawkeyes turned her into a global sensation, and the gigantic fan base she cultivated during that time transferred over to the Fever when they selected her.
Clark and her Fever team’s popularity was shown through them selling out essentially every arena they played in through 2024, merchandise sales being through the roof, and being the WNBA’s most-watched team on television. This probably would have been the case even if Clark underperformed as a rookie, but her having a legendary 2024 campaign only helped matters.
Most expected Indiana to pick up right where they left off in 2025, especially after hiring Stephanie White to be the team’s head coach and then adding multiple key veteran players in free agency and via trade during last offseason. And while the Fever did have a great 2025 season, it was largely without Clark on the court, given that she only played in 13 games because of injury.
Indiana Fever Dominated WNBA Interest Across Almost All of the United States
Because Clark wasn’t on the court, some might assume this impacted the Fever’s popularity. A graphic from Basketball Reference’s 2025 WNBA Season in Review page, which was reposted on X by Miles Ehrlich of Winsidr on December 10, shows that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
The graphic shows that the Fever were the most-viewed WNBA team on Basketball Reference in 41 of the 50 United States in 2025. Several West Coast teams (the Seattle Storm, the Golden State Valkyries, the Las Vegas Aces, and the Phoenix Mercury) were the most-viewed in their respective states, as were the Minnesota Lynx and the Washington Mystics (in Washington, D.C.). Aside from those, the Fever were the most-viewed team in all but three states.
Here are the 2025 @bball_ref most viewed player and team pages across the United States and Canada. Caitlin Clark is again a dominant search, with Angel Reese in second place, and Napheesa Collier huge in Nunavut. Similarly, the Indiana Fever are the popular team search. pic.twitter.com/l6XKd7XQJJ
— Myles (@MylesEhrlich) December 10, 2025
Impressively enough, Indiana had an even stronger grip on Basketball Reference’s view history in 2024, as they had the most-viewed WNBA team page in 46 of the 50 states.
This just goes to show that Clark (who was the most-searched player in 41 states this year) and the Fever are as popular as ever, and there’s no reason to suggest that will change in 2026.
