The Caitlin Clark show is officially headed to the WNBA postseason. The Indiana Fever clinched their spot in the playoffs late Tuesday night after losses by the Chicago Sky and Phoenix Mercury.
While Clark continues to set viewership and attendance records throughout the regular season, the WNBA is now guaranteed at least two postseason games featuring the rookie superstar. The Fever would currently be the sixth seed if the season ended today, and would face the Minnesota Lynx in a three-game series. But with seven games remaining, six of which are at home, Indiana could conceivably catch the Seattle Storm or Las Vegas Aces, who are three and four games ahead in the standings, respectively.
Must-See TV
Disney will be one of the biggest beneficieries of the Fever making the playoffs, which will be broadcast exclusively on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. This season, Clark has played in games that have resulted in all three of those channels’ most-watched WNBA broadcasts ever, each drawing more than 2 million viewers for different Fever games.
For the remainder of the regular season, Ion and NBA TV each get two more Indiana broadcasts. Ion’s five most-watched WNBA games have involved the Fever, ranging between 1 million and 1.6 million viewers. Indiana’s 104-68 loss to the New York Liberty on June 2 is NBA TV’s largest WNBA audience in history at 430,000 viewers.
When the WNBA’s new $2.2 billion media rights deals begin in 2026, Disney platforms will share the playoffs with NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video.
Best Show in Town
The Fever lead the WNBA in home attendance, with an average of nearly 17,000 fans per game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Liberty are second with roughly 12,500 spectators each matchup.
But sustained interest in Clark on the road has led to many opponents moving their home games against Indiana to larger arenas, and setting their home attendance records in the process. Most recently, the Atlanta Dream welcomed a franchise-record 17,608 fans to State Farm Arena for last week’s 83-80 loss to the Fever.
Unless Indiana is able to capture the fourth seed in the playoffs, their opponent will get to sell tickets for two consecutive home games against the Fever, with Clark and Co. only getting a home game if they force a winner-take-all Game 3.
Other Side of the Coin?
Despite the momentum around Clark, her debut WNBA season has also come with controversy. Clark has taken many hard fouls from opposing defenders, and has even been on the receiving end of several technicals.
“They cannot have f***ed this Caitlin Clark thing up any worse if they tried,” Charles Barkley said Wednesday on The Bill Simmons Podcast when discussing some of the media attention surrounding Clark. “Just because people don’t like you or your personality, they can’t get on TV and slander you.”
