Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever Debut Drew a Record Crowd

Even if the basketball player’s historic Iowa Hawkeyes days are in the past, the Caitlin Clark Effect is still going strong. More than 13,000 fans flocked to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Thursday night to watch Clark play her first WNBA preseason game with the Indiana Fever. Many of them were sporting shirts with Clark’s number, 22.

Seven minutes before the first quarter finished, Clark made her first basket, sending the audience into a frenzy. As she continued to score, the crowd’s excitement only increased. Following her team’s 83-80 victory over the Atlanta Dream, Fever coach Christie Sides told reporters, “I don’t recall a crowd like that all last year.” During the 2023 regular season, Indiana’s home game attendance averaged little over 4,000 spectators; hence, Thursday’s audience was about three times greater, setting a new record for preseason attendance for the team.

After the game, Clark told reporters, “It’s pretty unbelievable.” Thirteen thousand people attending a preseason game is extremely unusual. With 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists at the end of the game, she called her performance “not that effective.”Clark made four of her twelve field goals and two of her nine three-pointers, according to CNN. Despite her difficult shooting night, Clark did recognize the positive aspects of her play, stating, “I thought more than anything, I did a pretty excellent job of sharing the ball, finding my teammates.”

After shattering multiple records in her final season at the University of Iowa, including becoming the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer in both men’s and women’s basketball, Clark was the WNBA’s first overall draft pick this year. The Fever will play their first game of the season on Tuesday night against the Connecticut Sun. On May 16, they will play the New York Liberty, another team that has demonstrated how much fans enjoy women’s basketball.