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The WNBA released its 2025 broadcast schedule last week, and some fans were delighted to see just how much the league was featuring the Indiana Fever and reigning Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.
The Fever host the Chicago Sky in the second game of an opening-weekend doubleheader on May 17, and the team will be prominently featured in 40 other nationally televised games airing on CBS, ABC/ESPN, and Ion.
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And while few can blame the WNBA for wanting to cash in on Clark’s star power—several teams have even move their games against the Fever to bigger arenas to accommodate ticket demand—one of the league’s star players recently expressed a bit of frustration with some of the broadcast decisions the league made.
During a recent appearance on ESPN’s “First Take,” Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier subtly called the WNBA out for giving the Fever broadcast dominance at the expense of some other deserving teams.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10).© Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
“I mean, obviously, people want to watch Caitlin play, and so, you have to put people on TV that people want to see,” Collier said. “But at the same time … to not have the defending champs on TV more, I think it’s kind of crazy. It doesn’t have to be where you’re taking games away from Indiana, but I think you can raise the level of TV games for the other teams as well.”
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To Collier’s point, the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty, who feature star guard Sabrina Ionescu and star forward Breanna Stewart, have just 32 nationally televised games, and the Las Vegas Aces, who won back-to-back titles the two previous years and boast reigning MVP A’ja Wilson, have 33 games on national TV.
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier.Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
However, Collier made sure to clarify her gripe wasn’t with Clark, who she agreed should be pushed by the league as much as possible, but rather with the WNBA for not trying harder to promote its recent champions.
“I don’t think [Clark being featured so much is] an issue,” Collier continued. “I do think Caitlin is a star, and like I said, people want to see her…you need to put on TV the players that people want to see. But kind of what I said before, I don’t think raising the level of the other teams has to mean bringing down Caitlin or the Indiana Fever. They should have those amount of games on TV, on primetime, but I think other teams should also have more than what they have.”
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