‘Caitlin Clark Effect’ Hits Bottom Line in Indiana Fever Finance Report

As Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever return from the WNBA’s Olympic break this week, the franchise is hoping to maintain the momentum it established before last month’s All-Star Game, both on and off the court.

A league-high 186,000 fans have attended Fever home games this season, up 265% from 2023, as the team won three of its last five contests to climb into seventh in the WNBA standings with a record of 11-15. Online though, Indiana is unmatched in the Clark era.

More from Sportico.com

According to a report released Wednesday, the team is tops in the league in terms of social media engagement, video views, followers gained and total followers. Between April 15 and July 19, it even beat all other teams across the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB in team-produced video consumption with 800 million views, the Fever said. Only MLS’ Inter Miami performed better among U.S. teams. The Fever now also have the league’s most team sponsors. Eli Lilly became Indiana’s jersey patch sponsor in May.

In July’s All-Star Game, Fever stars Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and Clark helped Team WNBA upset the 12-player U.S. Olympic squad, 117-109, in front of a record 3.44 million viewers.

While Clark wasn’t invited to Paris, she spent part of her time off attending a New York Yankees game in a custom jersey. “It was fun to see the amount of our guys that were kind of just starstruck being around her,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said afterwards.

Each of Clark’s remaining 14 games in the 2024 regular season are scheduled to be broadcast on national TV, starting with a rematch Friday against Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury at 7:30 p.m. ET on Ion. On Sunday, the Fever play the Seattle Storm at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

There will surely be numerous Clark jerseys in the stands for those games, as the team said it has seen a 1,193% increase in uniform sales year over year.

Notably, unlike in the NBA, WNBA players have generally not been compensated for those purchases, as Aces guard and Olympian Kelsey Plum explained in 2022.

“I don’t think I have to make the same as LeBron, but [I want the same] percentage for jerseys,” she said on The Residency Podcast. “I see mine at Mandalay Bay … and I don’t get a dollar.” Under the current CBA, which the WNBPA can opt out of this November, revenue sharing with players kicks in when league revenue hits certain thresholds, though Plum and others have argued for a new system.

Story continues

Under the current agreement, Clark is earning $76,535 from the standard rookie base salary structure. However, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said that Clark could receive as much as $500,000 in WNBA earnings this season when factoring in additional player marketing agreements with the league and her team, not to mention her own brand deals with the likes of State Farm and Nike. Her All-Star appearance, for one, reportedly came with $2,575 in cash.

If Clark keeps up her on-court play—she currently leads the league with 8.2 assists per game—she will earn even more. A spot on the All-WNBA Rookie Team is worth $1,500, while the WNBA Rookie of the Year award comes with a $5,150 bonus.

Best of Sportico.com