The Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark have a big goal for the 2025 season: winning a WNBA championship. After a successful offseason, the Fever are well set up to compete with the other top teams in the league. While there are still some challenges the Fever will have to deal with, like defensive struggles and the fact that there are so many new faces on the team, a championship should be well within reach.
Winning the franchise’s second title would be a massive success for the Fever but the implications of that success would go far beyond Indiana. It would be a win for the entire WNBA, even if it means that other strong teams and star players miss out on an opportunity to win it all.
The Fever winning a championship could contribute to the WNBA’s rise in popularity
Over recent years, the WNBA has experienced a significant rise in popularity. No season encapsulated that more than the 2024 season. Rookies like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese brought massive fan bases over to the WNBA from the college level.
In 2024, the WNBA broke several attendance and viewership records. Three games—two matchups between the Indiana Fever and the Washington Mystics, and one game between the Fever and the Las Vegas Aces—were attended by over 20,000 fans. Several games, like a June 16 matchup between the Sky and Fever and a May 14 game between the Fever and Sun, were watched by over 2 million fans on TV.
There is a clear commonality between all of the top games in attendance or viewership numbers: the Indiana Fever. Caitlin Clark and her team drew so many fans to the game that opposing teams even had to move games to bigger arenas when the Fever came to town.
That all happened during Clark’s rookie season when the Fever struggled out of the gate and didn’t even win a playoff game. Nevertheless, fans loved to watch the team, and media outlets overwhelmingly focused on the Fever with their coverage.
If the Fever win a championship, it will draw even more eyes to the WNBA. Fans already watched the Fever in masses when the roster was young, inexperienced, and no real match for the top teams in the league. Imagine how much more attention people will pay to a competitive Fever team that goes on a deep playoff run.
It could lead to several consecutive record-breaking seasons in terms of viewership and attendance, as well as record-setting engagement during the postseason.