Indiana Fever report WNBA highs in attendance, social media engagement, and team sponsors

The GIST: The Indiana Fever may rank seventh in the WNBA standings, but the team is coming first in virtually every meaningful business growth metric. This Wednesday, the Fever released pivotal numbers demonstrating just how much Caitlin Clark has already changed the game for the franchise. From stepbacks to steppin’ up.

The context: After another demoralizing season, the Fever won the No. 1 overall pick last December for the second consecutive year after drafting Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston in 2023. The franchise last won the championship in 2012 and hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2016.

• Enter Clark, whose declaration for the WNBA Draft on February 29th caused average Fever ticket prices to more than double YoY by March 1st, with many more business gains for the team to follow. Let’s dive into the numbers.

🏟️ The Fever lead the W in home and away attendance, with 186K attending home games in 2024 (up 265% YoY). Clark’s presence drove the team’s 230K road game attendance, which prompted a trend of flexing games to bigger arenas when the Fever visit. The team also saw jersey sales jump over 1,000% since 2023, with Clark becoming one of the W’s top-selling kits.

📱 The team has outpaced other W squads in social media engagement, video views, followers gained, and total followers. And between the WNBA Draft and All-Star Game, Indiana bested every team in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB in video consumption with 800M views. The only U.S. team to beat the Fever? MLS’ Inter Miami, home to soccer phenom Lionel Messi.

📺 The Fever are the league’s most-viewed team with 10 record-breaking broadcasts so far. Clark’s debut broke a 23-year WNBA viewership record, while her rivalry matches against fellow rookie Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky smashed the record again in June.

• Clark has also been front and center in 14 of the 16 WNBA broadcasts in 2024 that averaged over 1M viewers, and her arrival is also credited with landing 38 of the Fever’s 40 regular season games on national television, up from 22 in 2023.

💰 The franchise also leads WNBA teams in sponsors. Pharma brand Eli Lilly is one of its most recent additions, committing to the squad with a jersey patch in May. And brands with the foresight to bank on Clark like State Farm and Gainbridge are already being paid handsomely in brand exposure thanks to nationally-televised games and social media buzz. No breaking this Fever.