WNBA star Caitlin Clark is currently facing some leg issues, as her team, the Indiana Fever, announced on Friday.
Before Saturday’s preseason opener, Idaho Fever listed Clark as questionable due to these leg concerns. Unfortunately, details regarding her condition haven’t been shared yet.
Last season, she had impressive stats, averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 8.4 assists per game. Notably, Clark led all rookies in assists, which was a crucial factor in the Fever making their first playoff appearance in eight years.
But it’s not just the Fever who depend on her. The league, and really the entire women’s basketball scene, counts on stars like Clark to help elevate the sport’s visibility. She has already made a huge impact, as evidenced by the fact that all of the WNBA’s top 14 most-watched games last season featured her team. Additionally, she broke records for the most All-Star votes in league history.
In early September 2024, her game against the Minnesota Lynx even drew 1.26 million viewers, coinciding with an NFL matchup between the Eagles and the Packers. Quite the feat, really. During her first regular-season game against the Washington Mystics on September 19, a record-setting 20,711 fans packed the Capital One Arena in D.C., making it the best-attended regular season WNBA game ever.
Clark’s remarkable journey continued in the playoffs, attracting a staggering 1.84 million viewers for the Fever’s first-round game against the Connecticut Sun, which took place on September 22—a Sunday, which, you know, is traditionally dominated by NFL games. The viewership didn’t stop there; her following game reached an even more impressive 2.54 million viewers.
However, a puzzling trend emerged post-season with the WNBA playoffs experiencing a sharp decline in viewership. For example, the first semi-final match between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty—two of the league’s most popular teams—managed to draw only 929,000 viewers, which is quite surprising.
