INDIANAPOLIS — The absence of Caitlin Clark from the Indiana Fever continues to reach beyond the basketball court.
On Thursday, Clark addressed the media for the first time since the team announced she would miss multiple games due to a leg injury on May 26.
“I miss the games—that goes for anybody that’s ever hurt,” Clark said after team practice Thursday.
The Fever confirmed that Clark's quad strain would sideline her for at least two weeks.
“I feel like I made a lot of progress, and I feel good, and I’m not going to rush coming back. It’s just not worth it,” Clark said.
She added that she will miss at least the next game.
Since her injury, ticket prices for some Fever games have changed.
"We've seen ticket price sales dropping by maybe 70%, depending on the game and the team," said Kate Christensen, an assistant professor of marketing at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
According to ESPN, Fever games typically attract a lot of attention during matchups against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky.
However, after the announcement that Clark would not participate in the upcoming June 7 game against Chicago at the United Center, ticket prices fell as low as $15.
In contrast, for the next Chicago game on July 27, when Clark is expected to return, prices jumped back up to over $80.
“It’s not that people don’t want to be there, but the amount of surplus that they want to pay may go down because this is a superstar, and this is the big draw,” Christensen explained.
Despite her absence, the Fever still draws significant audiences.
“Their recent game was very well viewed; it was one of the top-viewed games without her playing,” Christensen noted.
Clark’s influence on the WNBA's economic landscape is still being felt. Her presence alone is responsible for more than a quarter of the league's economic activity last year, which is projected to reach as high as $1 billion this year.
The professor added, “What is great is that that activity is expanding. So it’s not just dependent on this one person when she’s not playing.”
She also added that multiple players and teams are gaining attention amid the rise in popularity for women’s basketball.
Clark confirmed she will not participate in the team’s upcoming game against the Sky this Saturday.
She will be re-evaluated this weekend to assess the possibility of her return for next Tuesday’s game; however, that remains uncertain.
