The Indiana Fever haven’t even drafted Caitlin Clark yet, but the WNBA has already set the team up with a massive number of nationally televised games.
The league revealed its TV schedule on Tuesday, and as Indiana Pacers beat writer Scott Agness noted, 36 of Indiana’s 40 games this season will be televised on a national network.
Clark is widely expected to make her WNBA debut on May 14 against the Connecticut Sun in a game that will be televised on ESPN2.
Her first meeting with Sabrina Ionescu, the league’s top three-point scoring threat, and the New York Liberty will stream on Prime Video two days later.
The 2024 WNBA Draft is set for Monday, April 15.
It makes sense that the league and its media rights partners would want to capitalize on the Clark effect.
On Monday, it was revealed that 18.7 million viewers watched the 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament championship game between Iowa and South Carolina, the largest audience for any basketball game since 2019.
It still speaks to Clark’s impact that the Fever, a franchise that has a 58-174 record since 2017 and hasn’t had a winning record since 2015, is must-see TV before she even has her first practice with the franchise.
Clark will partner with Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and NaLyssa Smith to give Indiana a strong core.
Boston and Mitchell were both named All-Stars last season, and Smith finished fourth in the league in rebounds per game (9.2).
Clark is undoubtedly the main reason for the increased national interest in the Fever, but fans of the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer should quickly learn that the team has much more to offer.