Indiana Fever Sales Skyrocket After Caitlin Clark Joins Team, Sparking Unprecedented Fan Frenzy

INDIANAPOLIS — The introduction of Cailtin Clark to the Indiana Fever is having monumental effects for the popularity of the team and women’s basketball as a whole, according to a new midseason report from the team.

The report, which was released on Wednesday, says that the team has seen a 265% increase in ticket sales from the year prior. Meanwhile, the team’s store has seen a jump of more than 1,000% in sales.

Additionally, the team says they lead the WNBA for having the most televised games and most social media interactions and follows of any of the twelve teams in the league.

“Women’s basketball has exploded in popularity and more fans are tuning in, packing arenas, and engaging in social media to watch their favorite teams and players,” the report read. “Indiana in particular has been the epicenter of the sport with fans engaging with the Fever and their young stars in new ways, and the momentum shows no signs of slowing down as the team makes a push to return to the WNBA playoffs this season.”

It continued, “The results have been impressive across the organization, but they are perhaps more glaring with the excitement and energy of the game experience at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Fever lead the League in attendance, eight of the team’s 11 home games this season have been sellouts, and the team maximized its season ticket sales for the 2024 season. In all, more than 186,000 fans have attended a home game so far in 2024, the most in franchise history and already a 265% jump from last season. The enthusiasm has carried over to road games, as well, with more than 230,000 fans attending Fever games in opposing arenas and multiple road games moving to larger venues to accommodate the big crowds.”

While the report doesn’t name any of their individual players by name, the cause of the surge is abundantly clear for anyone who has been paying attention to the world of basketball for the past few months: Caitlin Clark.

Clark, a University of Iowa alum, had a history-making career while playing for the Hawkeyes between 2020 and 2024. She earlier this year became the NCAA’s all-time scorer for both men and women’s basketball alike, with a career-wide 3,951 point record upon finishing her final game in April.

However, her college career came to a unexpectedly stunning and dramatic end earlier this year, after Iowa fell to South Carolina in the NCAA women’s basketball championship final.

Clark soon afterwards entered the WNBA draft, where she was quickly picked up by the Indiana Fever as the very first pick across the league as a whole. The Fever placed last in the WNBA’s Eastern Conference during the 2023 season and had the 10th highest win percentage across the league’s 12 teams.

With Clark now on the team, the Fever’s standing has started to improve during the 2024 season so far, coming in at third across the six-member Eastern Conference and seventh across the league as a whole as of Saturday.

“This is a historic moment, an inflection point for women’s basketball, and there’s nothing more fitting than Indiana being at the center of it all,” said Mel Raines, the CEO of Pacers Sport & Entertainment, which founded the Indiana Fever as an extension of the NBA’s Pacers franchise. “Over several seasons, we have built a young, talented roster that fans are excited to support, and this is momentum that we will build off for years to come.”

Meanwhile, Todd Taylor, the Pacers’ President for Business Operations, echoed that sentiment. “This is a fun team, on and off the court, and our staff has done an exceptional job at creating content that connects our growing fan base in new and innovative ways,” he said. “This is an important moment for our sport and our city and state, and it is exciting to be able to share it with our fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and all over the world.”