Not LeBron, or Steph: Is Caitlin Clark basketball’s hottest TV ticket?

Women’s basketball is on a roll. The movement started long before Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Juju Watkins were nationwide superstars, but those players have grown the game exponentially over the last few years.

Season two for Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft last year, and had a fantastic rookie season with the Indiana Fever. She was named Rookie of the Year, was voted to the All-Star Game and made the All- WNBA First Team while averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists.

The league knew she would be a big draw, and after delivering a historic rookie season, and this year the league wants her on national television as much as possible. The national broadcast schedule was published earlier this week, and it should come at no surprise that Clark and the Fever are the top draw on the WNBA slate this season.

The Fever are scheduled to play 41 of their 44 games on national TV. Ten of those games will be on NBA TV, eight of them on ION, ABC and ESPN will each broadcast five a piece, CBS Sports Network will show four games and CBS will feature the Fever in three games.

Lakers top televised team in NBA

No one in the NBA has been on national television more this season. Not LeBron James. Not Luka Doncic. Not Steph Curry. The most a team or player has been featured on national TV is 39, of course it’s LeBron and the Lakers that are the most visible team in the NBA. That was even before Luka got to town.

The Fever went 20-20 last year and finished sixth in the regular season. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Connecticut Sun, but this year Indiana have tried to give Clark some more help as they look for their first title in franchise history.

They brought in All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell on a one year, supermax deal. Sophie Cunningham also came to Indiana in a trade and two time All-WNBA section DeWanna Bonner. Finally Natasha Howard, who has won three WNBA titles, and was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2019.

The Fever will tip off the season on May 17th as they take on Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky on opening night of the new campaign. It will be the second game of a double header, and will be televised on ABC at 3 p.m. ET.

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