Clark’s Star Power: Indiana Fever Set for Historic TV Exposure with 36 National Games
In anticipation of Caitlin Clark’s anticipated first season with the Indiana Fever, the WNBA’s broadcast partners are making plans.
The Fever, who will select Clark with the first overall pick in Monday’s WNBA Draft, will have 36 of their 40 regular-season games televised nationally this year. Two games on ABC, including one on May 18 versus the New York Liberty, and two on CBS are part of the schedule. ESPN2 will broadcast Indiana’s opening game of the season on May 14 versus the Connecticut Sun.
Clark has significantly increased the amount of people that watch women’s collegiate basketball. Her tenure at Iowa ended with a loss to South Carolina in the national championship game on Sunday. According to ESPN, the record 18.9 million viewers watched the Iowa-South Carolina game, making it the most viewed basketball match (men’s or women’s, college or professional) since 2019.
The Fever’s broadcast schedule is just the most recent example of the several ways that Clark and the surrounding economy will influence the team’s (and the WNBA’s) future. It is difficult to stress how different Indiana’s schedule is from that of the previous season, when Indiana was significantly better and did have star Aliyah Boston, who was ultimately voted Rookie of the Year.
The Fever did not play on ABC or ESPN2, and they only appeared on ESPN once during the previous season. Conversely, Indiana played all 40 of its games on Fever Facebook.
Indiana only appeared once on ESPN2 in 2021 and did not appear on ESPN, ABC, or ESPN2 in the 2022 season. The Fever will play on a national broadcasting or streaming game in all but four of their matchups this year, and they will appear on one of those networks eight times.
Indiana has more national games than the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces and the 2023 WNBA Finals runners-up, Liberty. Indiana also owns the rights to choose Clark in Monday’s draft. Out of all the teams, the Fever will have the most games on NBA TV (13), with the Aces (10), Dallas Wings (8), and New York (7) following closely behind.
How else will the broadcast schedule be different in 2024?
After establishing a new multiyear deal with the league, CBS Sports increased the amount of WNBA content it offers this season by double. Starting with the 2024 season, eight regular-season games will air on CBS annually, as opposed to just four during the previous season. For the term of the agreement, CBS Sports Network will broadcast 12 more games.
With a focus on Friday night action, ION will have the most games of any network, with 43 scheduled for broadcast. Thursday nights will see the availability of 18 of the 20 regular-season games on Prime Video. With forty games, NBA TV has the second-highest schedule of any platform.
(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)