The Caitlin Clark effect is now extending even to preseason games, as her return to her old collegiate stomping grounds is reportedly set for national TV.
ESPN is set carry the May 4 WNBA preseason game between the Indiana Fever and Brazilian national team, which is set to take place from Clark’s alma mater at the University of Iowa, Andrew Marchand and Ben Pickman of The Athletic reported Tuesday. The contest, which ESPN has not yet officially announced or listed on its advance schedule, is believed to be the first WNBA preseason game to ever air on national television.
The game is set to air on the ESPN flagship network in the event that there is no NBA playoff Game 7 that day, and on ESPN2 otherwise. ABC would ordinarily carry the Sunday afternoon NBA games on that particular day of the postseason, but the network’s usual doubleheader is instead set to air on ESPN to accommodate the F1 Miami Grand Prix.
While game time is currently set for 6 PM ET, it is highly likely that the time will change to accommodate national television. ESPN has a Sunday Night Baseball game at 7 PM ET and Top Rank Boxing immediately after, meaning it has no flexibility to adjust its schedule.
The preseason contest is just the latest example of the Clark effect. While the WNBA had been seeing increased television coverage and viewership in the years prior to her arrival, those trends accelerated dramatically during her rookie year. There is simply no pre-Clark reality in which a WNBA preseason game would ever air on the flagship ESPN network.
In the coming 2025 regular season, Clark and the Fever are scheduled to play all-but-one of their 44 games on a national platform.
