Indiana Fever On SI

Caitlin Clark and Fever Cause WNBA First With Iowa Exhibition ESPN Coverage

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are setting another broadcast standard with a WNBA preseason game.
Grant Young|
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) rushes up the court Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, 93-86.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) rushes up the court Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, 93-86. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Indiana Fever fans don't need any further proof of the Caitlin Clark Effect, as they witnessed and experienced it first-hand during the 2024 WNBA season.

However, if any of Clark's doubters (if there are any left) needed any additional evidence of Clark's ability to move the needle, the sheer amount of opposing WNBA teams relocating their games against Indiana to bigger arenas in 2025 should suffice.

And it isn't just bigger than average venues that the Fever will be playing in this season. It was also announced a while back that they'd be playing in an exhibition game against the Brazilian national team on May 4 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which is the Iowa Hawkeyes' home court where Clark produced her sensational college career.

And according to an April 15 article from The Athletic's Andrew Marchand and Ben Pickman (which has since been reposted on social media), this exhibition outing is a WNBA first for a broadcast-related reason.

"ESPN will broadcast what is believed to be the WNBA’s first nationally televised exhibition game when Clark returns to Iowa for the Indiana Fever’s game against Brazil’s national team on May 4, sources briefed on the network’s scheduling said," an X post screenshoting the aforementioned article wrote.

"The 5 p.m. CT tipoff will be on ESPN unless the network has a Game 7 in the NBA playoffs. In that case, the Fever-Brazil game would shift to ESPN2."

While the WNBA regular season doesn't begin until May 17, Fever and Iowa fans now have yet another reason to be excited in the weeks to come.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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