‘Clarkonomics’: WNBA teams see bump in ticket sales after Caitlin Clark declares for draft
Shortly after Caitlin Clark announced her plans to enter the WNBA draft, the Indiana Fever ticket offices became noticeably busier.
“We have seen a lot of excitement online and on social media,” Pacers Sports and Entertainment said in a statement to the Associated Press. “The organization also sees the enthusiasm leading to a peak in the number of ticket requests.”
The Fever does not want to reveal how many tickets they have sold. Still, getting Iowa star Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft would be a boost for the franchise, which was second-to-last in attendance last season, averaging 4,067 fans at home games.
“It’s Clarkonomics,” said basketball analyst Deb Antonelli. “Her ability to move the meter and the excitement around her is incredible. The socially acceptable thing to do is watch Caitlin Clark play basketball.”
Antonelli worked for the Fever for 18 years and thinks the only thing that came close to the excitement surrounding Clark’s No. 1 drafting was the team’s run to the WNBA title in 2012.
Clark set numerous records as a senior for the Hawkeyes this season and is poised to become the highest scoring player in men’s or women’s NCAA history. She has brought interest in women’s basketball to unprecedented levels with her deep three-pointers and ball-handling skills.
The draft is April 15 and the Fever hinted in a social media post that they plan to select her.
It wasn’t just in Indiana where fans tried to get tickets. In Connecticut, nearly 800 tickets were sold in 24 hours for the Sun’s May 14 season opener against the Fever. That equaled the number of individual tickets sold for the game to date, excluding the team’s 2,500 season ticket holders.
“We typically have bumps in our ticket sales for league rivals, reigning champions and of course when former Huskies come to town,” Jennifer Rizzotti, president of the Connecticut Sun, told the AP. “This may be the first time a non-UConn player has generated this type of interest from our fan base. We understand the expectation is that Caitlin will be on Indiana’s roster and it’s been great to witness the excitement over the past 24 hours surrounding her first WNBA game here in Connecticut.
Many WNBA teams do not yet have individual game tickets on sale, but can expect strong sales for Fever games. Clark and Iowa have sold out nearly all of their road games over the past two seasons. Tickets for her home regular-season finale against No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday were among the most expensive in women’s basketball history.
“I’ve never seen a player have this impact on the road or on the ratings,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said. “The first year of the league there was hype around Lisa (Leslie), Sheryl (Swoopes) and me with a lot of commercials, but there wasn’t the hype of people being able to see us play like there was with Caitlin.”
Las Vegas, which led the league last year and already has more than 8,000 season tickets, has sold another 300 since Clark made her announcement.
ESPN has not yet announced its broadcast schedule, and the network showed just one Indiana game last season. Expect this number to increase this year. Six networks had record viewership for Clark’s games over the past two years.