ESPN Facing Backlash During Fever-Aces Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Parker Johnson | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 5:18 PM ET

There were five WNBA games on Sunday, but the main event was the nationally televised game on ESPN.

Ratings behemoth Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever were on the road to face the Las Vegas Aces and three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson.

The Fever-Aces game was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET, but ESPN got on the bad side of fans at home before tip-off by keeping the American Cornhole League's Pro Singles Final event on-air into the scheduled time slot of the "WNBA Countdown" pregame show.

When "WNBA Countdown" did go on air, analyst Andraya Carter made a mistake that worried Indiana fans and angered others.

When the panel made picks for the game, Carter chose the Fever, but expressed concern over her pick by mistakenly reporting that Fever head coach Stephanie White was not going to be at the game.

You heard correctly Robin… https://t.co/scRUXPvAwX pic.twitter.com/86bBNd7JWN
— ericaf455❤️ (@ericaf455) June 22, 2025

White has missed two recent games this season, including Indiana's previous game on Thursday against the Golden State Valkyries, due to personal reasons. However, she was there on Sunday.

ESPN panelist just said they’re worried about the Fever because Stephanie White won’t be there

Anyway, here’s Stephanie White at the game: https://t.co/U9QKDjc5T7
— Jake Wilkins (@JakeWilkns) June 22, 2025

"Why did Andrea Carter just say we won’t have Steph White today on ESPN??" said an X user.

"ESPNs crack pregame crew said Stephanie White wasn’t with the Fever today," wrote another. "But there she is on the sideline."

Facepalm.
— Corinne M (@cmcsed9) June 22, 2025

"ESPN is so unserious," said a critical fan.

"I mean it’s espn…..," said one user with low expectations for the sports media giant.

For ESPN, mistakes are far more visible when the Fever are involved in a game. ESPN PR shared that last weekend's game between Indiana and New York, Clark's return from injury, was the third most-watched WNBA game on ABC (which owns ESPN) ever with 2.2 million average viewers.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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