The Caitlin Clark effect has reached the preseason.
ESPN will broadcast what is believed to be the WNBA’s first nationally televised exhibition game when Clark returns to Iowa for the Indiana Fever’s game against Brazil’s national team on May 4, sources briefed on the network’s scheduling said. It is the first nationally televised WNBA preseason game on ESPN.
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The 5 p.m. CT tipoff will be on ESPN unless the network has a Game 7 in the NBA playoffs. In that case, the Fever-Brazil game would shift to ESPN2.
ESPN declined comment.
Iowa retired Clark’s jersey in February, but her return with the Fever will be her first game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena since graduating last spring. Tickets for the exhibition sold out within 45 minutes of being listed.
“Countless Hawkeye fans have become Fever fans, and we consider them family,” Fever president of basketball operations Kelly Krauskopf said in a statement when the game was initially announced. “That’s what will make this preseason matchup so special for us.”
The lack of accessible preseason broadcasts has become a pain point for fans in recent seasons, as many have clamored to have network partners air preseason games. Last season, an exhibition between the Chicago Sky and the Minnesota Lynx was unavailable on a broadcast but totaled more than two million views through a fan’s phone stream on X.
“The growth is happening so fast,” Cheryl Reeve, the Minnesota coach and president of basketball operations, said after that exhibition. “It’s so accelerated. And I’ve been saying this in our own organization, that business as usual isn’t going to work anymore.”
Clark and the Fever begin the regular season May 17. They will be featured on 41 nationally televised or streamed games in the upcoming WNBA season, the most of any franchise. Of their 44 games, 10 will be on ABC/ESPN while eight will air on ION.
Last year, as Clark won Rookie of the Year and was named to the All-WNBA first team, six different WNBA television partners set viewership records for their highest WNBA game. All six involved Fever telecasts.
Clark is not the only WNBA star returning to her alma mater for a preseason game. The Chicago Sky are returning to LSU, Angel Reese’s alma mater, for an exhibition. The Las Vegas Aces and Dallas Wings will play a preseason game at Notre Dame, the alma mater of guards Jackie Young, Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale. The New York Liberty are also playing at the University of Oregon in a homecoming game for Nyara Sabally and Sabrina Ionescu.
(Photo: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
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