{"id":19338,"date":"2025-07-18T16:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T16:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/19338\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T16:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T16:19:07","slug":"indiana-fever-g-cailtin-clark-missing-the-all-star-game-could-shift-viewership-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/19338\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Fever G Cailtin Clark missing the All-Star game could shift viewership numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fever G Caitlin Clark will not play in the WNBA All-Star game this weekend<\/a> in Indianapolis, bringing up the question that swims beneath every WNBA conversation\u201d as to whether the league can \u201cdraw viewers without her,\u201d according to Alissa Hirsh of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. WNBA viewership is up 9% this season<\/a>. Additionally, seven of the eight most-watched WNBA games have featured the Fever. But three of those seven games Clark did not play in. However, non-Fever games are averaging \u201cmore viewers than the NHL did last season.\u201d That is \u201cencouraging — especially because there\u2019s more to life than viewership. Cultural relevance also matters.\u201d This year\u2019s game \u201cmay draw fewer viewers without Clark,\u201d who led all players in fan votes. Hisch: \u201cBut even if viewership drops by half — unlikely for a Saturday night prime-time slot on ABC — it would still outdraw the NHL All-Star Game\u201d (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 7\/17<\/a>). THE ATHLETIC\u2019s Ben Pickman wrote Clark\u2019s absence \u201cnow clouds the weekend more than the shadows cast by the towering\u201d JW Marriott that features an ad featuring Clark<\/a>. The upcoming All-Star weekend \u201cisn\u2019t only about Clark, of course, but as the league\u2019s most popular draw<\/a> who plays for the host city\u2019s team, she was set to be the affair\u2019s de facto representative\u201d (THE ATHELTIC, 7\/17<\/a>).<\/p>\n

MAKE IT AN EPICENTER: THE ATHLETIC\u2019s Richard Deitsch writes the WNBA needs to \u201ceventize\u201d more regular-season games, and a \u201cpriority for the 2026 season should be using the popularity of Caitlin Clark by scheduling the Fever to play a game at either Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Colts in Indianapolis, or a unique outdoor venue in the Midwest, such as Wrigley Field\u201d (THE ATHLETIC, 7\/18<\/a>).<\/p>\n

ON THE LEADERSHIP: USA TODAY\u2019s Nancy Armour noted Clark has missed 11 games this season, so \u201csomeone needs to explain how a player who has been durable until now keeps getting similar injuries, and that starts with the Fever.\u201d It is possible that Clark \u201ccame back too soon and, whether consciously or not, was compensating for one injury, thereby making her susceptible to the next.\u201d Armour: \u201cFever officials needed to be the adults in the room. The only consideration these last two months needed to be Clark\u2019s health and well-being, and if that means disappointing fans or broadcast partners or sponsors or even Clark herself, so be it\u201d (USA TODAY, 7\/17<\/a>).<\/p>\n

REFS PLEASE: In D.C., Sally Jenkins noted Clark is out again because of another groin injury, \u201cpossibly aggravated after she\u202ftook a knee\u202fin the abdomen\u201d from a \u201cno call\u201d from Sun G Jacy Sheldon on Tuesday night. Jenkins: \u201cThe surest way to kill the league\u2019s popularity and halt its commercial momentum is to put its star players in ice packs and traction. Yet that\u2019s what is happening as the all-star break approaches.\u201d Which makes the need for \u201cgood, controlled officiating all the more crucial.\u201d It is not a league problem but an \u201cofficiating problem<\/a>.\u201d Jenkins: \u201cThe refs are particularly guilty of letting star guards get mauled\u201d (WASHINGTON POST, 7\/17<\/a>). Players and coaches said that they \u201caren\u2019t asking for perfection,\u201d but \u201cseveral voiced frustration and said they want greater consistency in how games are refereed and the level of physicality allowed.\u201d Many WNBA players and coaches \u201cprefaced their answers by saying they didn\u2019t want to get fined.\u201d Liberty G Natasha Cloud said, \u201cAnd if I feel like [refs are] having too much f—ing impact on the game, it shouldn\u2019t be.\u201d Although the conversation around officiating \u201chas been loud this season,\u201d several players mentioned that the officiating \u201cseems no different than it has been in previous years.\u201d They said that what has changed is the \u201cspotlight with the league\u2019s rising popularity and faster, more physical style of play\u201d (ESPN.com, 7\/17<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fever G Caitlin Clark will not play in the WNBA All-Star game this weekend in Indianapolis, bringing up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[402,99,434,1765],"class_list":["post-19338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-basketball","tag-sports","tag-wnba","tag-womens-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}