The WNBA and especially the Indiana Fever are ecstatic to have sharpshooter Caitlin Clark back on the floor after she missed all but 13 games last season with various soft-tissue injuries, including a groin that cost her the entire second half of the season.

Since her arrival in the 2024 WNBA draft, the WNBA has seen record numbers in attendance and television viewership, which has culminated not only in rapid franchise expansion but also in a transformative new labor deal.

Angel, Reese, arguably Clark’s biggest rival on the court, spoke in 2024 about how people needed to appreciate her impact on the league’s growth as well.

“People are talking about women’s basketball that you’d never would think would be talking about women’s basketball. People are pulling up to games. We’ve got celebrities coming to games [and] sold-out arenas just because of one single game,” Reese said.

“And just looking at that, I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role,” Reese said of her positioning in the media as Reese’s foil, “and I’ll continue to take that on and be that for my teammates, and I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like: ‘Yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person, it’s because of me too, and I want you to realize that.’ Like, it’s just not cause of one person. A lot of us have done so much for this game.”

WNBA is Showcasing Clark

Reese is certainly correct that Clark isn’t the only one responsible for the WNBA’s surge in popularity, but the truth is that she’s the most popular player in the league’s history by a wide margin. It’s something the WNBA is well aware of, as the league has made all 44 of the Fever’s regular-season games nationally televised for the 2026 season.

The Right Decision

Clark and the Fever had their first preseason game of the season on April 25 against the New York Liberty, and if the numbers have completely justified the league’s decision to broadcast the Fever widely this season.

“The WNBA on ION’s telecast of the first preseason game of the year between the Indiana Fever and New York Liberty on Saturday, April 25 delivered an average audience of 743K. That is an increase of +76% over ION’s first preseason game last season,” Sportico reported.

Clark has cemented herself as the biggest draw in basketball; now, the hope is that she can stay healthy throughout the season as she chases her first WNBA title.