The WNBA is doing whatever it can to get more eyeballs on its biggest superstar, Caitlin Clark.
Six WNBA teams have already moved games against the Indiana Fever to larger venues, and the Fever will play 41 of their 44 games on national television this season.
It’s the most nationally televised games for any team in the league, even more than the reigning champion New York Liberty, who will have 33 games shown on national TV.
That scheduling is “kind of crazy,” one of the WNBA’s top players said.
“Obviously, people want to watch Caitlin play, and you have to put the people on TV that people want to see. But, at the same time, there are stars all over the league, and you want good basketball, as well,” Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier said on Tuesday’s “First Take” on ESPN. “Obviously, Indiana … will be a great team, but to not have the defending champs on TV more, I think it’s kind of crazy.”
Clark has been the victim of some criticism both on and off the court from fellow WNBA players. Collier made sure to clarify, though, that this was not a shot at Clark or the Fever.
“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. … [The Fever] should have those amount of games on TV on primetime, but I think other teams should have more than what they have.”
Clark’s presence in the sport has brought historic viewership to college and pro basketball. The final three games of her college career were the most-watched women’s college basketball games ever. She also had several of her regular-season games draw more viewers than WNBA playoff games, and her WNBA matchups with Angel Reese were some of the most-viewed WNBA games ever.
WNBA teams even had to move to larger arenas simply because of the ticket demand Clark drew. The Fever sold 90 times more tickets during the 2024 season than in 2023.
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