The Indiana Fever and the WNBA knew the arrival of Caitlin Clark would have a massive effect on both the league’s popularity and the team’s popularity. It’s why 36 of 40 games on Indiana’s schedule will be nationally televised this season. Clark’s arrival is also massive for stadium attendance.
Last season, the Fever had the second-lowest average home attendance in the WNBA at 4,067 tickets sold per game, according to BeyondWomensSports.com. While it marked a significant improvement over Fever attendance in 2022 (1,776 per game), it was still one of the least-popular WNBA teams.
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All of that changed upon Clark’s arrival. Since Clark was drafted by Indiana with the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, ticket sales for the WNBA increased by 93 percent, other WNBA teams had to start relocating their home games against the Fever to bigger arenas. Meanwhile, Indiana saw record-setting ticket sales with massive interest in attendance at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which has a seating capacity of 18,000.
Here, we’ll be tracking the Fever attendance for the 2024 season.
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Indiana Fever attendance: Team blowing past 2023 figures, leads WNBA attendance
A nail-biting 91-84 win on Thursday night at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis came in front of 16,651. With Caitlin Clark having an off night from the field, fans got to see Aliyah Boston tie her career-high (27 points) and witnessed Kelsey Mitchell make a game-saving steal and bucket in the closing minutes to secure Indiana’s fourth win of the season.
- Indiana Fever attendance 2024: 99,508 (6 games) 16,585 per game
The Fever have the highest WNBA attendance this season, averaging 3,000 more fans per game than the New York Liberty in second place. Indiana is also poised to become the first team to hit 100,000 in attendance this year, doing it in just seven games. For context, Fever attendance in 2023 was 81,336 (4,066 per game) and 31,964 (1,776 per game) in 2022.
Sunday’s home game against the Chicago Sky, a rematch against Angel Reese and Chennedy Carter on CBS, will draw a sellout crowd. With 17,724 in attendance for Sunday’s game, the Fever will have had more fans attend their first 7 games in 2024 than total attendance in the last two years (113,300).
| Year | Home Games | Indiana Fever attendance |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-’23 | 38 | 113,300 |
| 2024 | 7 | 116,782 |
Indiana Fever attendance by game 2024 (home games)
- Thursday, May 16 – vs New York Liberty – 17,274
- Monday, May 20 – vs Connecticut Sun– 17,274
- Tuesday, May 28 – vs Los Angeles Sparks – 16,013
- Thursday, May 30 – vs Seattle Storm – 15,022
- Saturday, June 1 – vs Chicago Sky – 17,274
- Thursday, June 13 – vs Atlanta Dream – 16,651
Caitlin Clark’s first home win comes with another sellout
Clark and the Indiana Fever hit the court on Saturday afternoon for their third consecutive home game, holding a 1-8 record with their lone victory coming on the road. All of that changed in front of an outstanding crowd at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
In what might be the start of a potential rivalry against the Chicago Sky, Indiana came out on top 71-70 in front of a sold-out crowd. With over 17,000 fans in attendance, Clark (11 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists), NaLyssa Mitchell (17 points and 9 rebounds) and Aliyah Boston (10 points and 8 rebounds) put Angel Reese and the Sky away in the closing minutes. Heading into next week, the Fever lead WNBA attendance.
Struggling Fever still draw massive crowds
The Fever suffered another loss on Tuesday night, losing 88-82 to the Los Angeles Sparks at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The defeat dropped the Fever’s record to 1-7 on the season, the second-worst record in the WNBA. However, Clark played extremely well and the Gainbridge Fieldhouse pulled in another massive crowd.
Clark set career-highs in points (30) and blocks (3), also tacking on 6 assists with 5 rebounds and 3 steals in the most complete performance of her WNBA career. Meanwhile, Fever attendance on Tuesday night hit 16,013, or 88.96 percent of the stadium capacity at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Through three home games this season, the Fever are averaging the highest WNBA attendance in 2024.
Sellouts continue, WNBA record set by New York Liberty
The WNBA is experiencing everything it hoped for and more following Clark’s arrival. In their second home game of the 2024 season, the Fever recorded consecutive sellouts with more than 17,000 in attendance for Monday’s game against the Connecticut Sun. While it’s only two home games so far, Indiana is already among the leaders in WNBA attendance and is averaging more than 13,000 fans more per game than in 2023.
Meanwhile, Clark helped another team set a WNBA record. In her first game at the Barclays Center, the New York Liberty became the first WNBA team to generate more than $2 million in revenue in a single game. Meanwhile, other franchises continue to relocate their upcoming matchups against the Fever to larger arenas to account for ticket demand to see Clark play live.
Caitlin Clark’s regular-season home debut draws crowd
While her team is struggling early in the 2024 WNBA season, Fever attendance is not. Following her WNBA debut on the road, Clark took the court for her first official home debut in Indiana’s home opener in the second game of the regular season.
It was a sellout crowd of 17,274 in attendance at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the New York Liberty vs Indiana Fever matchup in downtown Indianapolis. For comparison, Fever attendance for the home opener in 2023 was 7,356.
Plus, more WNBA teams are making adjustments to their schedules by relocating home games to bigger arenas due to massive ticket demand for some of the Fever’s road games this season. Unsurprisingly, Clark is also having a massive influence on the league’s television ratings.
Preseason home opener – 13,028
Making her home debut in Indiana’s preseason finale on Thursday night against the Atlanta Dream, Caitlin Clark’s presence brought a record-setting crowd to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse for a WNBA game.
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The final Fever attendance on Thursday night came in at 13,028 people for the preseason matchup. For context, the highest attendance Indiana had last season for a regular-season game was 7,365. For even greater comparison, only two WNBA teams – Las Vegas Aces (9,551) and Phoenix Mercury (9,197) – had an average attendance of over 9,000 last year.
It’s the highest attendance for a Fever game since Sept 18, 2016, according to Across the Timeline, when 17,704 fans showed up to watch Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings play the final home game of her legendary career with Indiana.
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Prior to Thursday’s game, Clark made her WNBA preseason debut on the road against the Dallas Wings. In a Fever vs Wings matchup held at the College Park Center – stadium capacity of 7,000 – recorded a sellout for a preseason game.
This is just the beginning of what’s to come. By the end of the 2024 season, the Fever will likely be among the WNBA attendance leaders in 2024 by a wide margin. Bookmark this page for updates throughout the regular season.