Friday was supposed to be one of the WNBA’s marquee matchups of the year: the first professional game between Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers. But a groin injury to Clark may delay the festivities.
Clark has been ruled out for the Indiana Fever’s home game Thursday against the Connecticut Sun. It’s unclear whether she will miss Friday’s game against Bueckers and the Dallas Wings—a road game on the second night of a back-to-back. Fever head coach Stephanie White said Clark is “day-to-day.”
The uncertainty around Clark’s availability has caused a drop in ticket prices for Friday’s game, which the Wings moved to the American Airlines Center, home of the NBA’s Mavericks. The arena has a capacity of about 20,000, more than three times that of College Park Center, the Wings’ usual home arena located in Arlington.
Based on SeatGeek, the “get-in” ticket price is down to $115 on Thursday afternoon, down 40% from $190 on Thursday morning, hours before the Fever announced Clark’s injury.
However, that number is still about four times more expensive than the get-in price for the Wings’ next home game against the Washington Mystics on Saturday.
The Chicago Sky moved their game against the Fever on June 7 to the United Center and were still able to draw a sellout crowd of 19,496 despite Clark not playing—though the ticket prices dropped about 70% after news of Clark’s quad injury was announced.
Despite the ticket price drop, the game has the potential to be Ion’s most-watched telecast of the season even without Clark. That title is currently held by the Fever vs. Sun game on May 30 that drew 851,000 viewers—and Clark missed the game with a quad injury. Bueckers’s WNBA debut aired on Ion and drew 612,000 viewers, also one of the network’s most-watched games this year.
It’s a welcome sign for Ion’s parent company, Scripps Sports, a few weeks after announcing a new, multiyear media deal with the WNBA.
Stars Align in Big D
Friday’s game will still cap off a special sports week in Dallas, regardless of whether Clark plays. Two days after the Mavericks selected Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick, the Wings will play their first game at the American Airlines Center.
The Wings are expected to move from Arlington to Dallas, though their original move to Memorial Auditorium is being delayed from 2026 to 2027. According to WFAA-TV Dallas, the Wings could wind up playing one season at American Airlines Center in 2026.
