Caitlin Clark drives 'spike' in Fever, WNBA ticket interest - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark is having a significant impact on the WNBA even before her arrival.

Clark, the transcendent Iowa star and presumptive first overall pick in Monday's WNBA draft, is driving an uptick in interest and ticket prices to see the Indiana Fever, which holds the No. 1 overall selection.

The Fever, second-to-last in WNBA home attendance last season (averaging 4,067 fans), would only confirm a «spike» in ticket interest, declining to comment on specifics. But the team is responding to the surge of interest by taking the unprecedented step of pre-selling single-game tickets to two games per day over a 15-day stretch heading into Monday.

The presale tickets have been selling briskly. By Thursday afternoon, only a handful of seats outside the balcony level remained from the batch of tickets made available earlier in the day for games against the Seattle Storm and Dallas Wings. Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Fever and Indiana Pacers play home games, has a capacity of more than 18,000.

Meanwhile, secondary market reseller Vivid Seats reports the team's regular-season opener — a May 14 road game against the Connecticut Sun — has seen a price increase of 91% since Clark declared for the draft. The Fever's home opener, on May 16 against the New York Liberty, has seen a 50% price increase since Clark declared, Vivid Seats reported.

At reseller SeakGeek, the average Fever resale price for home games is currently $182 — a 136% increase from 2023. That kind of shift is typically only seen in the NBA, coming as the result of a player like LeBron James changing teams.

«This is definitely the most significant example I can think of on the women's side,» said Chris Leyden, director of growth marketing at SeatGeek.

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