No lag here

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.

The GIST: Long-running sports video game franchise NBA 2K announced expansive in-game WNBA upgrades for its forthcoming NBA 2K25 title yesterday, giving gamers innovative offerings around the league’s biggest players. Leveling up.

The history: The NBA video game series has released games annually since 1999, but didn’t introduce a WNBA component until 2019. By the 2020 edition, users could create customizable players and battle against the W’s 12 teams, with gameplay developing further in the years since.

• Candace Parker became the first W athlete to grace the cover of NBA 2K in 2021, while A’ja Wilson will become the game’s first WNBA global cover athlete this year. Notably, Wilson enters the game with a 99 OVR, the highest rating for a WNBA player in 2K history. This girl is on fire.

The updates: NBA 2K25 launches next month and will build on its Pursuit of Greatness WNBA story mode feature that lets users play through an in-game narrative. This time, players will compete in the 2024 Rookie of the Year race against Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Other updates include the ability to mentor other players during gameplay and fully-voiced WNBA press conferences.

The why: In May, GameRant highlighted critiques about NBA 2K’s WNBA mode, which has historically had fewer gameplay modes and more simplistic avatars compared to the NBA version. However, some critiques still appear unaddressed — gamers have described difficulties playing W games online, with users surmising that it only functions on PS5 consoles.

• This is particularly problematic considering at least 88% of U.S. gamers have played online before, and many PS4 users haven’t upgraded yet.

Zooming out: The WNBA has seen explosive growth this season, and it's often hard for infrastructure to respond in real time. But that’s not the case for modern video games, which can issue new editions, software updates, and expansion packs that entice users to stay in the game.

• Bringing W players into the NBA 2K world is one thing, but involving rookies like Clark and Reese in a game mode devoted to pursuing greatness compounds the narrative that they are the stars to watch, and are quantifiably bringing more money and attention to the league. No lag here.