WNBA breaks attendance record despite Clark’s absence

A hobbled Caitlin Clark hasn’t hampered WNBA attendance this season. The league has already set a record for in-person attendance with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

According to a report from Front Office Sports, the league broke the record on Friday with more than 2.43 million fans attending games this year. The previous mark, 2.36 million, was set in 2002 when the league had three more teams than it currently fields. 

The WNBA’s surging popularity has been widely credited to Clark. The second-year superstar brought legions of fans with her from her record-setting collegiate days. 

But the Indiana Fever guard has missed more than half her team’s games this season with a groin injury. Clark has still attended home and road games as the league’s other stars — including Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson and the Washington Mystics’ rookie duo of Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen — maintain fan interest. 

“I think that’s definitely been hard,” Clark told retired guard Sue Bird on the latter’s podcast. I’m going to go to every road game no matter what, whether I’m playing or not. It’s hard because obviously I do feel this responsibility of being out there and playing.”

The Golden State Valkyries, an expansion team, have been one of the biggest attendance drivers. The upstart squad has sold out every game at San Francisco’s 18,000-seat Chase Center as they jumped to an unexpected 18-17 record to start the season.