Basketball player Caitlin Clark confronting lower body problem prior to WNBA preseason commencement.
🗓️ October 31st Festivities in Indiana Take a Turn with Caitlin Clark's Corn Maze 🌽
Hobart, Indiana's County Line Orchard has been teeming with record-breaking crowds since debuting its Caitlin Clark-themed corn maze this Halloween season. (FOX 32)
With a bang and a whistle, Caitlin Clark is in the headlines again, this time for a less-than-ideal reason - a left leg niggle. The WNBA Fever announced on Friday that the rookie phenom might miss their pre-season opener due to this minor issue, leaving her status questionable for the big game.
No word yet on the specifics of the injury, but fear not, fans - the team is focusing on long-term preventative care to ensure their star player is A1 for the regular season.
Last season, Clark was a force to reckon with, averaging a whopping 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and an astounding 8.4 assists per game, leading the league in scoring and averting assists. Her rookie year was a game-changer for the Fever, as the team made a triumphant return to the playoffs after an 8-year drought.
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But it's not just the team that's eagerly awaiting Clark's return – the entire WNBA has pinned their hopes on the star to boost the league's popularity.
Clark single-handedly turned the Fever into the most-watched team in WNBA history during her rookie season, with 14 of the most-watched games involving the Fever. She also broke the record for most All-Star votes in WNBA history.
🔍 CAITLIN CLARK'S IMPACT ON MEN'S BASKETBALL 🔍
In early September 2024, the Fever played before a TV audience of 1.26 million viewers in a game against the Minnesota Lynx at the same time as a Week-1 NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers. Clark's first regular-season finale against the Washington Mystics on Sept. 19, 2024, was a smash hit too, with 20,711 fans setting a record for the highest-attended WNBA regular-season contest at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
When it came to her first playoff game against the Connecticut Sun on Sept. 22, 2024, the stakes were even higher – setting a WNBA record of 1.84 million TV viewers on ABC, competing with an NFL Sunday. Game 2 also reached impressive viewership numbers of 2.54 million.
However, the WNBA playoffs saw a steep drop-off in viewers after the Fever's season ended, with the first semifinal game between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty, featuring two popular teams, drawing an audience of just 929,000, nearly half that of the Fever's Game 1 against the Sun.
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🏀 JACKSON THOMSON, a sports writer for our website Digital, brings you the latest hot takes and insider news from the court. With a journalism career spanning ESPN and Business Insider, Thompson has covered major events, such as the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has conducted interviews with sports icons like Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz, and Roger Clemens.
- Despite the minor injury concern, Caitlin Clark's impact on the Indiana Fever and the WNBA as a whole has been significant, with her rookie season averaging impressive statistics that boosted the team's popularity.
- The WNBA has pinned high hopes on Caitlin Clark's return to the court, anticipating a further boost in league popularity due to her star status.
- In her rookie season, Caitlin Clark managed to make the Indiana Fever the most-watched team in WNBA history, breaking several viewership records along the way.
- Clark's performances in the WNBA, notably in games against the Minnesota Lynx, Washington Mystics, and Connecticut Sun, have drawn larger audiences than some major NFL games, illustrating her power to captivate sports fans.
