The Washington Mystics used their scheduled season finale Indiana Fever Despite being one of the worst teams in the league this year, the team pulled a stunt that drew record viewership.
with Caitlin Clarke And with the Fever finishing their season in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, the Mystics made the beneficial marketing decision to move the game to a bigger venue. They moved it to Capital One Arena, home of the NBA’s Washington Wizards.
Washington typically plays at The Entertainment and Sports Arena, located in Congress Heights, a residential neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C. It has a capacity of only 4,200.
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But Capital One Arena, located in the Chinatown section of the city’s greater Penn Quarter, has a maximum capacity of 20,356 for basketball games.
With Clark’s arrival the Mystics had no trouble filling those seats, even though they had only 13 wins prior to the game.
Thursday’s 20,711 fans set a new record for most attendance at a WNBA regular-season contest, breaking the previous regular-season record of 20,674, which Washington achieved four times during the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
The best part for the Mystics was that the fans in attendance got a chance to see the home team win 92-91 over the Clark Fever.
The Las Vegas Aces made a similar move when they held the Fever’s game on July 2 at the larger T-Mobile Arena instead of playing it at the smaller Michelob Ultra Arena. For that game, 20,366 fans showed up, representing the largest crowd ever. Highest Regular season single game appearances since 1999.
However, that almost didn’t happen for the Mystics. Clark missed out on receiving a one-game suspension this year due to a technical foul. In Favors’ most recent game against the Dallas Wings, Clark was on the receiving end of her seventh technical foul of the season, meaning the freshman should have received a one-game suspension.
During the game, Clark was walking down the floor after a turnover. She saw the replay and immediately began swearing at the referees. Kelsey Mitchell put her hand out to stop Clark from approaching the referee, while Aliyah Boston pulled Clark away and yelled, “No,” so she wouldn’t receive a technical foul.
Clarke survived a seventh technical foul and managed to draw a crowd of fans to watch her play in Washington on Thursday night.
Clark’s final show of the season had the highest-ever audience ever, a fitting end to a historic season where the newcomer broke several other records.
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reaches for the ball during a game against the Dallas Wings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Hollars/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagen Images)
Clark’s performance on Thursday gave her the record for most points by a point guard in a season in WNBA history. Clark already holds the record for most points by a rookie and the league’s single-season assists record.
As the single-season record holder and league leader in assists this year, Clark is the youngest player to lead the league in assists.
Clarke also led the league in 3-pointers this year, and had the second-most in a season with 122.
In addition, she broke the record for most All-Star votes for any player in WNBA history, and became the first player to record a triple-double.
The attention and exposure Clark has brought to the Fever has led the team to the playoffs for the first time in eight years and has become one of the league’s most popular teams. The Fever were among the WNBA’s 14 most-watched games this year.
two of the Clark’s Companions He talked about how different it is to play with Clark this year, how different the team’s vibe and visibility is.
Point guard Kelsey Mitchell told reporters before Thursday’s game that she didn’t think the public would have known much about her without Clark, saying she was accustomed to a more introverted approach to her work.
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Dallas Wings guard Jessie Sheldon (4) defends Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
“I think the reality is that people wouldn’t know without “C Squared” (Clark’s nickname), so hats off to Caitlyn!” Michelle said when asked about getting more attention and fan following this season.
“She’s done an incredible job in bringing in her fans and her supporters, but, for me, I laugh at it and accept it at the same time because I’ve always been under the radar. I’ve always been a very conservative, very introverted person, so now I get to see the other side of it.”
Meanwhile, shooting guard Erica Wheeler told reporters that Clark’s presence this season has caused the team to be more resilient to scrutiny.
“We just have fun with Caitlin Clark, who never takes anything seriously,” Wheeler said. “I always tell people she’s a kid at heart. … There are moments when we need to be serious, and we are serious, but most of the time we’re having fun. Because you have to understand that the outside world was really trying to get inside this building. We didn’t let it do that.”
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