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Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese headline WNBA All-Star team that will face US Olympic squad
The Indiana Fever’s Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell also made the All-Star team.
The Indiana Fever’s Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell also made the All-Star team.
A new media rights deal is expected to provide an influx of cash that will alter league finances significantly. Meanwhile, the players are expected to opt out of their collective bargaining agreement and renegotiate.
The first month of the WNBA season drew its highest attendance since the league’s second season in 1998 and the best television ratings in its history, the WNBA announced Tuesday.
Taking in account a 30-point outburst on Friday night against the Washington Mystics. Clark has averaged 16.8 points, 6.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 5.6 turnovers in her first 12 WNBA games.
In a Tuesday letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, Banks said Clark has experienced “resentment and repeated attacks from fellow players” during her first season with the Indiana Fever.
The league also fined Sky forward Angel Reese $1,000 for failing to make herself available to media after Saturday’s game and fined Chicago $5,000 for failing to ensure that all players comply with league media policies.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said that the original plan was to roll out the charters gradually as they became available, but the league was able to secure charters for every team within a week of the season starting.
The Fever drew a crowd of 16,013 on a Tuesday night, about 1,200 spectators short of a sellout. It was the first time the Fever have failed to sell out this season.
Toronto will be the WNBA’s 14th franchise, with the expansion Golden State Valkyries to start play next year.
The Indiana Fever have drawn sellout crowds in all four of their games—two at home, one in New York and one at Connecticut. And league-wide attendance is up 14%.
The last athlete to have a similar signature basketball agreement with Wilson was Michael Jordan.
The Fever showed progress, playing a tight contest against a team that blew them out by 21 points just six days ago, but Indiana remains winless after four games.
The Indiana Fever star had the best game of her young pro career on Saturday, but the Fever lost 91-80 to the Liberty in New York City.
Amid high expectations, rookie Caitlin Clark struggled to find open shots and was hampered with foul trouble in her first home game for the Fever.
The Indiana Fever’s season-opening road game Tuesday night against the Connecticut Sun—featuring the debut of Caitlin Clark—was the most-watched WNBA game since 2001.
Sportsbooks say they expect increased betting on women’s sports overall this year because of Clark, the Olympics and increased media attention.
Clark struggled early in her WNBA debut Tuesday night as the visiting Indiana Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun 92-71 before a sellout crowd.
This Indiana Fever’s game in Connecticut will feature the second sold-out crowd Clark will play in front of in her extremely young WNBA career.
A Fever championship would have bookmakers sweating. They are the biggest liability at BetMGM Sportsbook, with nearly half the betting tickets on the Fever, who open the season Tuesday at the Connecticut Sun.
Clark struggled with her shooting, but the Fever managed a preseason victory over the Atlanta Dream on Thursday night before a large, raucous crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.