Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever Already Soaring As 13,028 Fans Show For Preseason Game

It was supposed to be a soft opening - you know, like at a new restaurant.

Well, this is equivalent to a five-star restaurant. This is the "Caitlin Clark Effect."

WNBA rookie sensation Caitlin Clark, the first pick of the WNBA Draft last month out of Iowa after breaking Pistol Pete Maravich's all-time NCAA scoring record of 54 years, made her home debut for the Indiana Fever in Indianapolis on Thursday night. And 13,028 - a likely record for a WNBA preseason game - showed at 18,000-seat Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

For an exhibition game!

Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark is introduced to the home crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Thursday night before her Fever debut as the first player selected in the 2024 WNBA Draft. (Getty Images)

An exhibition game that was pushed up a day just last week because the Indiana Pacers reached the second round of the NBA Playoffs and need Gainbridge to host the New York Knicks (up 2-0) in game three of an Eastern Conference semifinal on Friday (7 p.m., ESPN).

Never mind the scheduling change, the Caitlin Crazies found their way in droves. Clark scored only 12 points in an 83-80 win over the Atlanta Dream. An off night of 4-of-12 shooting from the floor and 2 of 9 from 3-point range, yes, for the iconic superstar, who led the nation in scoring last season with 31.6 a game and with 5.1 made 3-pointers a game as she took Iowa to its second straight national championship game.

But she still flashed her versatile brilliance with eight rebounds, six assists and a blocked shot in 32 minutes.

And there was this one play in the first quarter, where Clark blew by a Dream defender, who found herself in a nightmare that we'll call the "Haunting of Hailey Van Lith" from Iowa's win over LSU to reach the Final Four. Then Clark weaved through three more defenders with an NBA-like Euro step for a layup.

It was something to see. 

"She is literally unbelievable," one fan said on X.

"Hot knife through butter," another said.

The most significant number from Clark's debut, though, was the 13,028 in attendance.  In the history of the WNBA, which began in 1997, there is no record of a preseason game approaching that number in attendance.

The 13,028 nearly doubled the Fever's highest attended home regular season game last year, which was 7,356. Indiana averaged just 4,066 a home game last year.

"It's pretty incredible - 13,000 at a preseason game is pretty unheard of," said Clark, who has followed the WNBA since she was a toddler called "Ponytail Pete" in West Des Moines, Iowa. "That just shows what it's going to be like for us all season, and it's going to help us. I thought they were loud. I thought they were into it." 

Caitlin Clark Packs Them In For A Glorified Practice

And this was the appetizer.

"This is a preseason game on a Thursday night, and there's 13,000 people here," Clark said.

The attendance dwarfed the attendances of other recent WNBA preseason games. The Chicago Sky with first round pick Angel Reese of LSU, for example, drew only 3,132 on Tuesday at 10,387-seat Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Strange Promotion: ESPN's WNBA Commercial Downplays Caitlin Clark? 

Do not be surprised if Clark and company fill up or reach near capacity at 18,000-seat Gainbridge on Thursday, May 16, for her regular season home opener against the New York Liberty (7 p.m., Amazon Prime Video).

"I'm excited for our home opener," Clark said. "I think it's going to be packed out."

Caitlin Clark drives for a layup in Indiana's preseason win over Atlanta Thursday in her Indiana Fever debut at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Getty Images)

Clark's regular season debut for Indiana will be at the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday, and it will be nationally televised (7:30 p.m., ESPN2, Disney +, ESPN +). The Connecticut Sun play in Uncasville at the Mohegan Sun Arena, which is expected to be full or close to it as it seats 10,000.

Caitlin Clark Effect Going Nationwide

Clark and the Fever drew 6,251 to the 7,000-seat College Park Center in Dallas last week for her preseason opener against the Dallas Wings as she scored 21 points with five 3-pointers in 13 attempts in a 79-76 loss. The Wings averaged just 4,641 for its home games last season.

Fans wore Iowa Hawkeye and Indiana Fever colors Thursday night.

"It was fun to see some people in Iowa stuff, and then a lot of people in Fever gear," Clark said.

She only wishes she could have played better.

"I don't think I was that effective, honestly," she said. "I would have liked to make a couple more threes."

Bet on her to make more of those in real games.