Regardless of by no means truly utilizing her identify, the Indiana Fever not too long ago put out a report that each one however places a shining highlight on their star rookie, Caitlin Clark.
The official launch got here out Aug. 14 and boldly boasted about how the workforce’s “Followers Are Partaking with the Indiana Fever in Document Numbers.”
The Fever bragged about quite a few workforce milestones because it returned from the Olympics break (the place quite a few WNBA gamers — although none from the Fever — received the gold medal in girls’s basketball).
“Ladies’s basketball has exploded in recognition, and extra followers are tuning in, packing arenas, and fascinating in social media to observe their favourite groups and gamers,” the Fever said. “Indiana specifically has been the epicenter of the game with followers participating with the Fever and their younger stars in new methods, and the momentum exhibits no indicators of slowing down because the workforce makes a push to return to the WNBA playoffs this season.”
Whereas by no means mentioning her by identify, it’s fairly notable that one of many key variations between the Fever final yr and this yr is the presence of Clark — whose nuclear superstardom has already generated fairly a little bit of jealousy and a tinge of racial animus within the league.
However these aren’t the one issues Clark has helped generate.
“The Fever lead the League in attendance for each house and away video games with greater than 186,000 followers attending a Fever house recreation for the reason that season tipped off in Could, the best complete in franchise historical past and a 265 % improve in attendance from final season,” the Fever launch said.
It added: “4 Fever house video games this season have set single-game information for gross sales on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse Staff Retailer, and the Staff Retailer has skilled a leap of greater than 1,000 % in internet gross sales.”
Maybe simply as impressively, the Fever boasted about the way it was hanging with a lot larger, far more profitable sports activities leagues in sure arenas.
“The Fever maintain the highest spots within the League in social media engagement, video views, followers gained, and complete followers and since April, the Fever have had greater than 800M video views throughout platforms,” the discharge stated. “The workforce is ranked first amongst groups within the WNBA, NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB in video consumption in that span.”
All of this buzz was sufficient for Sportico, an outlet targeted on sports activities enterprise extra so than sports activities itself, to outright name these big numbers a direct results of the “Caitlin Clark impact.”
And, once more, that description is difficult to argue with.
Clark’s arrival has been a veritable boon for the WNBA, and her on-court rivalries with the likes of Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese and (apparently) your complete Phoenix Mercury squad has ignited real curiosity in a product that had been struggling to keep up any kind of foothold with sports activities followers over time.
It does must be famous that Clark could be very deserving of this adulation and these accolades.
Not like a few of her extra shameless friends, Clark’s recreation is definitely environment friendly and expert.
Sure, her turnovers are a problem, and sure, she’s not a lockdown defender, however her offensive brilliance (historic offensive brilliance, by the best way) is uncommon for anybody — not to mention a precocious 22-year-old — to have in basketball.
For all of the aforementioned good buzz, nevertheless, Clark and the Fever are scrapping for one of many remaining few playoff spots.
Indiana will subsequent look to maintain these playoff hopes alive on Monday, when the workforce travels to Atlanta to face the Dream.
This text appeared initially on The Western Journal.
