Caitlin Clark salutes record, ‘different’ T-Mobile Arena crowd vs. Las Vegas Aces

Caitlin Clark is no stranger to a record turnout.

During her time with the Iowa Hawkeyes , Clark brought the fans out in droves to Carver-Hawkeye Arena and whichever road arenas Iowa visited. That famous Caitlin Clark Effect is rolling right along into the WNBA.

Clark and the Indiana Fever are delivering record attendance and ticket sales wherever they go.

Thanks to the increased demand, the Las Vegas Aces elected to move their Tuesday date versus the Fever to T-Mobile Arena. The Aces normally play inside Michelob ULTRA Arena, which drew 10,399 fans for Las Vegas’ 99-80 victory over the Fever on May 25.

With Clark and Co. back in town, the Aces and the Fever delivered much more than that. A grand total of 20,366 fans packed down T-Mobile Arena to watch the Aces top the Fever 88-69 to comprise the largest regular-season crowd at a WNBA game since 1999. It was the fifth-largest crowd in WNBA history.

Clark said she could tell it was going to be a great crowd before the contest ever tipped off.

“Yeah, I think it was honestly one of the best we’ve had from an energy standpoint. Even during warmups, the amount of people here just watching warmups. I feel like that’s when I can kind of get a gauge on how good the crowd is or how excited they are about the game. Obviously, they’re always excited, but tonight it just felt very different.

“There was just mobs of people just watching us warm up and stuff. I think it was 20,000. That’s a lot of people. So, I mean, it’s great. Super cool to be a part of and I hope everybody enjoyed it. Also, I hope everybody saw how good the Aces are. That was really good for them, too, and obviously their fans show up and are incredible themselves,” Clark said.

Clark finished with 13 points, 11 assists and six rebounds on 4-of-12 shooting. It was Clark’s fifth double-double of the season, though the Fever rookie shot just 1-of-7 from 3-point distance against the Aces.

Just past the midway point, it’s been a season of history making for Clark and the Fever. Indiana’s recent battle against the Phoenix Mercury registered the most-watched game of Diana Taurasi’s legendary WNBA career.

After picking up the most fan votes, Clark has officially been selected for and headed to the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix on July 20.

The Fever return to action on Saturday, July 6 versus the New York Liberty in a game that will be televised on CBS beginning at noon CT.

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