HO – WNBA game between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever that featured the controversial foul on Caitlin Clark averaged over a MILLION and a half viewers – an over 300% increase from 2023
The WNBA‘s Chicago Sky-Indiana Fever game that featured the controversial foul on Caitlin Clark has averaged 1.53million viewers, leading to a 346 percent increase in audience compared the league’s 2023 regular season average on ESPN.
According to an NBA press release obtained by Mail Sport on Tuesday, viewership for Saturday’s game on ESPN peaked at 2.19M.
What’s more is the Fever’s first home win of the 2024 season is the fourth-highest viewership of an WNBA game in the last 22 years, according to SportsMedia Watch.
All four have featured Clark, including her pro debut on May 14 (2.12M viewers), a May 18 game against the New York Liberty (1.71M viewers), and a May 20 game against the Connecticut Sun (1.56M viewers).
But Clark’s matchup against Angel Reese partially attracted more attention due the two players’ rivalry from their college days, as the Sky forward was seen celebrating Chennedy Carter’s cold foul on the Fever point guard. Carter had shoulder-checked Clark prior to the ball being inbounded in the third quarter before appearing to call her opponent a ‘b****’. Post-game, the foul was upgraded to a flagrant-one.
Saturday’s Fever-Sky game is the fourth-highest viewership of an WNBA game since 2002
The game drew attention in the third quarter due to the Sky’s Chennedy Carter’s foul on Clark
It also drew criticism from Fever head coach Christie Sides, who described the foul as ‘unacceptable,’ while general manager Lin Dunn said ‘there’s a difference between tough defense and unnecessary … It needs to stop!’
Barely 24 hours after the game on Sunday, Carter slammed Clark on social media after refusing to answer questions related to the shove, insisting that she’d rather be hated than to be loved.
Reese was handed a $1,000 fine by WNBA for not attending Saturday’s post-game conference and the Sky were fined $5,000, as well.
The Fever-Sky game’s viewership numbers are mainly due to Clark’s rivalry with Angel Reese
For her part, Clark said she didn’t expect to be fouled so hard by Carter, ‘but it’s just like, respond, calm down and let your play do the talking. It is what it is.’
The foul was also a hot topic of discussion within sports media, as ESPN’s Pat McAfee drew criticism for his comments.
McAfee was discussing Clark’s impact in the WNBA and blasted reporters who said the increase in popularity of the league was due to the entire 2024 rookie class.
‘Nah, just call it for what it is, there’s one white b**** for the Indiana team who is a superstar,’ McAfee said.
He later apologized for his remarks on X, tweeting: ‘I have way too much respect for her and women to put that into the universe…
‘My intentions when saying it were complimentary just like the entire segment, but a lot of folks are saying that it certainly wasn’t at all.’
