Iowa v Ohio State Iowa v Ohio State | Aaron J. Thornton/GettyImages

 

Caitlin Clark makes history often.

On Sunday, May 4th, she’ll be part of another historical moment for women’s basketball, as her Indiana Fever will play in the first-ever WNBA preseason game televised on ESPN. Indiana will take on the Brazilian Women’s National Team at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the home arena for Iowa basketball — where Clark played college hoops.

The Fever superstar scored the most points, made the most 3s and recorded the most triple-doubles of any rookie in WNBA history. She recorded the most assists of any player in league history. At Iowa, she smashed NCAA shooting and scoring records in her four-year career with the Hawkeyes, and now she’ll return to Iowa City with a Fever team that has high hopes for 2025.

The game will also break the record for largest crowd at a WNBA preseason game in the United States. The record for largest crowd ever at a W preseason game was set last year at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, when 19,923 fans watched the Lynx and Sky play in the first-ever WNBA game in Canada.

Tickets for the event are sold out, and resale prices are well over $100 just to get in the door.

Clark’s homecoming will be a monumental day in Iowa City. The game might not count for Indiana’s regular season record, but Hawkeye fans — and the rest of us — will get to see Clark play one more time in the arena where she became a sensation. This is a great move by the W.

A long time coming for WNBA coverage

In 2019, the New York Liberty squared off with the Chinese National Team on ESPNNEWS, and to this point, that remains the only WNBA preseason game ever televised nationally. On Sunday, Clark and the Fever will play on ESPN’s flagship network (or so it seems, though that hasn’t been officially confirmed yet) against Brazil, marking another big accomplishment for a league growing with staggeringly quickness right now.

This won’t be the only nationally televised preseason game for the WNBA in the next few weeks, as three other games will be televised nationally, and the entire preseason slate will be broadcast for the first time ever.

Caitlin Clark and Indiana Fever start championship chase

A .500 record and playoff appearance in Clark’s rookie season were both revelations for a Fever team that was in the WNBA’s basement for seven years prior.

But in her second season, with a real chance at MVP, Clark and the Fever have higher expectations than a middling finish, And while their exabition against Brazil on Sunday won’t tell us much about their readiness for the 2025 season, it’s still the first time we’ll see the Fever play for new head coach Stephanie White, and the first time we’ll see rookies Makayla Timpson and Bree Hall in action.