Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. Grace Smith/IndyStar/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Caitlin Clark's true value to be revealed in absence

By Zach Wadley | Last updated May 28, 2025 12:51 PM ET

The WNBA is about to find out just how valuable its biggest star really is.

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has revolutionized the sport, giving the WNBA newfound fame and a place in the sports landscape.

But a recent left quadriceps strain has sidelined her for two weeks, marking the first time in her career that she will miss a game. Clark is the biggest of stars — putting butts in seats in arenas across the country and demanding fans' attention at home.

Her absence is already being felt in the ticket market. Wednesday night's game at the Washington Mystics was moved from CareFirst Arena to CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore to accommodate demand. The average ticket price has dropped from $115 to $83.

Tickets to the Fever's highly anticipated matchup against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky on June 7 have dropped even further. The Sky moved the game from Wintrust Arena to the United Center, but the average price has fallen from $210 to $95.

The United Center holds more than 20,000 fans, while CFG Bank Arena seats 14,000. How many fans show up will also paint a picture of Clark's value to the league.

Caitlin Clark's injury has sent get-in ticket prices for the Fever’s rivalry game against the Sky down 71% from $86 to $25, per @TickPick.

The June 7 game was moved to the United Center, the 21,000-seat home of the Chicago Bulls—the largest arena in the NBA. pic.twitter.com/l4enuyT0iB
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) May 27, 2025

Clark is not the only driver of the WNBA's rise, but she is a massive piece of it. Without her, what does success look like for the league? It's difficult to expect capacity crowds at the larger arenas in her absence, but numbers above the capacity counts of both teams' regular venues would be a positive number.

On television, the league would love to see the Fever vs. Sky matchup eclipse the 1.10 million viewer mark, which was the average viewership of CBS-televised games in 2024.

And though there's not a great metric to quantify it, the league needs momentum from others during Clark's absence. No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers has injected positive press into the league with her play thus far.

Clark's injury is not good for her or the league, but there are still positives that can come from it. The next two weeks will show just how much momentum the WNBA has gained versus how much momentum Clark had gained.

Zach Wadley

Zach Wadley's sportswriting career began at the age of 12 when he started covering Little League games for his local newspaper. Since then, he's worked in the sports information field where he merged his love of writing, social media, and broadcasting. He is a graduate of Anderson University (IN).

More must-reads: