Why Caitlin Clark’s latest injury is terrible timing for the WNBA

Last August, the WNBA announced that Indianapolis — home of the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark — would host the league’s All-Star weekend this season for the first time.

Clark’s home city was a logical choice for this week’s star-studded festivities. During her rookie season last year, Clark had an incredible impact on the WNBA’s business, single-handedly accounting for massive increases in merchandise sales, viewership and attendance.

On Thursday, however, the WNBA’s best-laid plans for a Clark-led All-Star weekend officially went awry, as Clark announced she would have to sit out because of a left groin injury.

“I am incredibly sad and disappointed to say I can’t participate in the 3-Point Contest or the All-Star Game,” Clark said in a statement. “I have to rest my body. I will still be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for all the action and I’m looking forward to helping Sandy [Brondello] coach our team to a win.”

The injury is the third that has caused Clark to miss time during her sophomore season. She played in only 13 of the Fever’s 23 games before the All-Star break because of quad and groin injuries.

It’s significant not only for Clark as a player — prior to this season, she had never missed a game in college or in her rookie year — but also for the league. While the WNBA has been steadily increasing in popularity, Clark still has an outsized impact on the attention she and the league command.

Her previous injuries, for example, caused ticket prices to plummet on multiple occasions.

Ticket prices to a June 27 game against the Dallas Wings fell by 40% after Clark was injured in the previous game, according to Front Office Sports.

That drop was paltry compared to Indiana’s June 7 game against the Chicago Sky, which has become one of the league’s most anticipated matchups thanks to Clark’s rivalry with Angel Reese. Ticket prices for that game — which was moved from the Sky’s usual home arena to the larger United Center — fell by 71% after an injury to Clark in May.

Her absence is also felt in TV ratings. In mid-June, the national audience for WNBA games fell by 55% while Clark was out, according to Nielsen. In nationally televised games featuring the Fever, ratings were down 53%.

With Clark out, now it’s the All-Star game that will be at the mercy of her absence.

Last year, the game had a record 3.4 million viewers, a 305% increase compared with 2023, according to the WNBA.

Tickets for last season were also in high demand, according to StubHub, which claimed that sales for the 2024 All-Star game were 13 times higher than the previous three years. The cheapest ticket, per StubHub, was $146 on the Monday before the game.

This year, Clark’s injury immediately affected the resale market.

On Wednesday, Front Office Sports reported that the get-in price for the All-Star game on TickPick was $121. On Thursday, less than two hours after Clark announced she wouldn’t play, the get-in price on TickPick fell to $72 — a 40% decrease.

The full impact of Clark’s injury on All-Star weekend won’t be known until the weekend wraps up. (She’s also not the only star who will be out, with Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard and Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally dealing with injuries. Reese’s availability is in question after she missed Wednesday’s game with a leg injury.)

But as the league has observed multiple times this season, Clark’s absence can be as important as her presence.