17,000 fans packed Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever and the NBA’s Indiana Packers on April 15th to watch Caitlin Clark’s name be called as the 2024 WNBA first pick on a jumbotron.
Since her announcement as the number one pick, her jersey sold out on Fanatics in only a few hours on draft day and became the highest selling jersey of any WNBA draft pick in history. Dicks Sporting Goods announced it will carry her Indiana Fever apparel in all of 724 United States locations.
To say that Clark has already had a monumental impact on the league is an understatement. Most recently, opposing WNBA teams have begun moving arenas to accommodate the influx of fans gravitating to the matchups against the anticipated duo of Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston and the Fever.
The 2023 WNBA champions the Las Vegas Aces announced they were relocating their May 25 game against the Fever from Michelob Ultra Arena which seats 12,000 fans to T-Mobile Arena, the home of the NHL’s Golden Knights which seats 18,000. The Washington Mystics have moved their game against the Fever on June 7 from their home Entertainment and Sports Arena which seats 4,200 to the Capital One arena seating 20,356, which is home to the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals, and Georgetown University men’s basketball team.
Outside of the Fever, the Los Angeles Sparks, Seattle Storm, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, and Phoenix Mercury all play and share their NBA counterparts arenas. However, many other teams in the WNBA might be pressured to expand to new sites when the Fever come to town.
Chicago Sky fans have started a petition on Change.org asking ownership and the team’s leadership to move their games against the Fever on June 23rd and August 30th to the United Center arena, home to the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. The Sparks, which traditionally play in Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, have been moved to Long Beach due to the NBA and NHL playoff conflicts. Perhaps the Sparks will also need to reconsider if the 4,000 seat arena at Long Beach is sufficient for hosting the Fever on May 24.
This unprecedented growth and attention is not new for Clark, as Clark helped Iowa women’s basketball shatter attendance records in 30 of their 32 games including setting record numbers at opposing schools. Additionally, the 2024 Big Ten tournament in Minneapolis held at the 20,000 seat Target Arena sold out for the first time in history. During this year’s March Madness tournament a new attendance record for the first two rounds was set with 292,456. Tickets to the first two rounds held at Clark and Iowa’s Hawkeye arena sold out in less than an hour. Fans flocked to Cleveland for the National Championship game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and South Carolina Gamecocks, but equally as impressive, 19,000 fans attended the open practice the day before the championship game.
As we inch closer to the beginning of the WNBA regular season other teams within the league such as the Connecticut Sun and Mohegan Sun Arena (10,000 seats), Atlanta Dream and Gateway Arena (3,500 seats), and Dallas Wings and College Park Arena (7,000 seats) might be looking to expand to new venues as the Fever come to town.
