Former University of Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark inspired audiences during her school’s run through March Madness last month, setting T.V. ratings records along the way. Just days after being drafted into the WNBA, it seems like she may have a similar effect at her new home.
The price of tickets to go see Clark, who unsurprisingly went No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever in Monday’s WNBA Draft, are skyrocketing to unprecedented levels around the nation.
Here in the Southland, Southern California fans can typically see the local Los Angeles Sparks on a budget.
Tickets to the Sparks’ home opener on May 15 against the Atlanta Dream start at about $14 plus tax on ticket reselling site SeatGeek as of Wednesday morning. Most of the team’s games follow a similar average between $8-30 for a “get-in price.”
But for the L.A. team, there’s a clear outlier. The Sparks’ third home game of the season will cost a minimum of $244 as of Wednesday.
The difference there? Caitlin Clark is scheduled to play in her sixth professional game.
The Fever will play the Sparks at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 24, in the Walter Pyramid on the campus at Cal State Long Beach. The Sparks’ traditional home is in downtown L.A., but renovations at Crypto.com Arena have forced the club to take its talents to the beach for its first five games.
Capacity could be a contributing factor for the unusually high ticket prices. The pyramid seats only about 4,200 people for a basketball game, according to the university. That’s less than a quarter of the capacity of more than 19,000 for Crypto.com Arena, so prices would almost certainly be lower if the Sparks were playing at their normal home.
But how much lower? Probably not too much at all.
Prices exceed $100 in eight of Clark’s first 12 road games over the first two months of the season on SeatGeek as of Wednesday morning.
The Fever’s home tickets are quite reasonable, coming in at less than $30 in most games over that same time frame. Their home arena in downtown Indianapolis is one of the largest in terms of capacity in the WNBA with about 18,000 seats, and with more opportunities to see Clark at home than in her rare stops to other cities, tickets are in much, much higher supply.
So for those wondering if the “Clark effect” will transfer over to the WNBA from college, the demand for tickets is a solid piece of evidence that it will.
For the first time in recorded history, the women’s national championship game, which Clark’s Iowa lost, was watched by more people than the men’s game. And according to sports-business journalist Darren Rovell, Clark’s Indiana jersey was the highest-selling jersey of any rookie on draft night in any sport in Fanatics’ history.
Next month, we’ll get to see if “Clark Fever” can continue in the big leagues.