On Wednesday, the WNBA revealed its 2024 schedule, and one thing was immediately clear: Caitlin Clark is already transforming the league despite the fact that she is not yet a member of it.
The Indiana Fever, who have the first pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft on April 15, will have 36 of their games televised nationally this summer. A WNBA season consists of 40 games, meaning all but four Fever games will be broadcast nationally.
The WNBA has confirmed that 36 of the Indiana Fever’s 40 games would be broadcast nationwide. 🍿 đź“ş
Compared to last year… pic.twitter.com/JOj49DUdSc
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport), April 10, 2024.
Clark, who last month became the all-time Division I leader in points scored by a man or a woman (one of many records she set this season), is expected to be selected first in next week’s selection. Even though the draft has not yet taken place and Clark will not be a member of any team until her name is announced, the WNBA appears to be assuming that the Fever will select Clark with their first pick.
It is a more than reasonable assumption to make. The Fever have not been a competitive team in years. They last had a winning record in 2015. They finished at.500 in 2016 and have only won more than ten games in a season twice since. Clark is an exceptional talent, a once-in-a-generation collegiate player who also happens to be the world’s most popular athlete right now. It is a no-brainer.
However, because the draft has not yet taken place, the WNBA cannot claim to have constructed the entire 2024 season around Clark’s selection by the Fever. So they tried to work around it in the press release.
Indiana, which is expected to add the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm (Monday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) to a roster that includes 2023 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston, will have 36 of its 40 games broadcast by the WNBA’s national broadcast and streaming partners. The Fever will air eight times on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2, eight times on ION, and twice on CBS Television Network. In addition, Indiana will receive 13 mentions on NBA TV, four on Prime Video, and one on CBS Sports Network.
Do not make any mistakes: Aliyah Boston is an outstanding player that earned the 2023 Rookie of the Year award. However, she was with the Fever last season, and the WNBA did not broadcast 90% of its games nationwide.
But Boston and Clark are on the same team? Now that’s worth 36 nationally televised games.
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