Caitlin Clark might have lost some steam with multiple injuries last season, but the Caitlin Clark effect has not. The Indiana Fever star played only 13 games back in 2025, causing the Fever’s attendance to drop. With CC out, the league’s All-Star game averaged 2.2 million viewers on ABC, down significantly from 2024’s record 3.44 million viewers on the network. However, Clark is making her return known after this latest decision from the WNBA.
The WNBA has announced its national broadcast schedule for the 2026 season. “Behind Clark, Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell, who combined for eight All-Star selections the past three seasons, all 44 Fever games will be showcased nationally,” the announcement said. Naturally, Caitlin Clark’s biographer and senior journalist Christine Brennan laid the reality out for WNBA fans.
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“The popularity of Caitlin Clark is one of the most fascinating stories in women’s sports history. There still are people who want to minimize her impact,” Brennan wrote. “There probably always will be. But they aren’t looking at the facts. TV viewership, attendance (H and A): Clark drives it all.”
Since people love rivalries, Paige Bueckers’ Dallas Wings are second in line with 36 games on national television. The reason is quite straightforward: Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever drive the numbers. The most watched game of last season, which averaged 2.7 million viewers, was the opener between the Fever and the Sky. All top 5 most viewed games featured Caitlin Clark, despite her playing limited games and through injury.
In addition, those records will most likely break this season as Clark’s comeback arc will gain a lot of hype as the season nears. She has already sprinkled some stardust on the fans by winning the MVP at the 2025 World Cup Qualifiers. After not seeing her play for most of 2025, the fans are starved for her basketball.
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In anticipation, the Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Toronto Tempo, and, most recently, the Atlanta Dream have relocated their matchups against the Fever to NBA arenas. Now, Caitlin Clark will play all but 5 games in NBA arenas. The broadcasting companies also want to recover the $200 million per year that they are paying in the new deal that kicks in this year. However,while fans and broadcast companies salivate on Caitlin Clark’s return, they might not get everything they expect.
Caitlin Clark’s Role Change Sparks Big Questions Ahead of 2026
While the spotlight is on Caitlin Clark’s logo threes, the real uniqueness of her game is her passes. She will thread the needle multiple times, leaving opponents confused. In the 2 WNBA seasons, Clark has averaged 8.5 assists per game over the last two years with a usage rate of 28.5%. Clark was third in the league in usage rate last season at 28.7%. However, that number is set to go down as Clark has revealed plans of going off-ball.
“It’s exhausting bringing the ball up the floor 94 feet versus pressure every single time, so we certainly need to find someone that can handle the ball a bit and give me a little bit of a break,” Clark said. “I think Raven and Ty, even other people through camp, have done a great job.”
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Now the obvious questions arise about whether that will reduce her passing impact. The more ball she has, the more opportunity she has to split defenses. In addition, she has been a floor general for almost her entire career, calling plays and leading the team. Clark has never played off-ball over a significant number of games in college or the WNBA. So there could be an adjustment period.
On the flip side, it will help the Clark avoid injuries like last season. Playing away from the ball will also help her shot-making. 66.6% of her field goals have been unassisted and Clark has still shot 40.5% from the field and 32.9% from the three-point line. Such a shot diet is not sustainable as well. It’s a double-edged sword, but the Indiana Fever are banking that Clark adapts and still has the same impact.
