Last season, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever sold out games both at home, and on the road, breaking TV viewership ratings while selling out arenas all across the United States. After attracting widespread attention during her time at the University of Iowa, Clark sparked a newfound interest in the WNBA after joining the Indiana Fever.
Now, heading into the 2025 season, some teams aren’t including games against Clark and the Fever in half-season ticket packages.
For example, while the Seattle Storm and the New York Liberty include games against the Fever in several ticket packages, the Minnesota Lynx don’t have Fever games included in either their Lake Package or their Aurora Package.
Instead, the team has an option to add tickets to a Fever game after purchasing a half-season ticket package.
The reason for this is that by excluding tickets to Caitlin Clark & Indiana Fever games from half-season ticket packages, teams like the Lynx will be able to sell tickets to games against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at a higher price.
WNBA fans were quick to react to the situation, and The Caitlin Clark Effect, in the replies.
“That Caitlin Clark Effect TOO REAL!” – One wrote.
“Thats our GOAT!” – Another added.
“LMFAOOOO this is the most shameless sh*t in any league history. Can’t deny who the face is any longer,” – One replied.
Others weighed in on Caitlin Clark’s star power:
“The Fever have their own add on package. Lol. For all their trying to downplay CC, she always manages to rise,” – One wrote.
“That’s funny and they still talking s**t about her lolll,” – Another added.
“The only face,” – One replied.
The Caitlin Clark Effect: Looking at some of the viewership records set by Caitlin Clark during her rookie season
While playing with the Iowa Hawkeyes, Clark attracted national attention, with her final college game drawing more viewers than the Grammy’s, World Series, and the Paris Olympics.
Because of that, before she joined the WNBA, the Indiana Fever were booked to play 36 of their 40 games on national TV. Once Clark, her deep-range 3-pointers, and highlight-reel dimes made the jump to the WNBA, she took the league by storm.
During the season, she set WNBA viewership records on ESPN, CBS, ABC, ESPN2, Ion, and NBA TV. On ESPN, for example, Clark and Angel Reese went head-to-head drawing 2.3 million viewers, while a game between the Fever and the Storm set the ABC WNBA viewership record.
Additionally, of 23 total games that drew more than a million viewers last season, 20 of them included Clark and the Indiana Fever.
Meanwhile, the team’s ticket sales soared through the roof, with Yahoo reporting that the Fever quadrupled their ticket sales from 2023 to 2024.
When the team played on the road, fans attended in droves, leading to teams moving games against the Fever to bigger arenas in order to accommodate the added interest.
After winning the 2024 Rookie of the Year award, Clark seems poised to create even more interest heading into her sophomore season.
Edited by Brad Taningco
