Fever, WNBA ticket sales explode

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The season hasn't even started (officially), but Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever have already changed the game.

Why it matters: Interest in the WNBA has skyrocketed as the league enters its 28th season, and Indy's No. 1 draft pick is a big part of the spike.

• The Fever's opponents are even scrambling to find larger venues whenever they roll into town.

Driving the news: The team's first pre-season game in Dallas on Friday was in front of a sold-out crowd.

By the numbers: According to a recent StubHub analysis, WNBA sales are up 93% compared to last season, and the Fever have emerged as the league's top trending team with ticket sales that are 13 times higher than 2023.

• All but one of the 10 best-selling WNBA games on StubHub are Fever away games.
• The average price of tickets jumps 80% when the Fever come to play, and the Fever's average ticket price for away games is $175, the highest of any team.

Meanwhile, all 10 of the hottest WNBA tickets on Vivid Seats are Fever games.

• The team has a league-leading average sold ticket price of $175 for both home and away games on Vivid Seats, up from $60 the year before.
• The Fever join the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Sun as the most popular teams in the nation based on Vivid Seats ticket sales data.

Flashback: The year-over-year increases are even more impressive when considering the fact that the 2023 WNBA season was a record-setter.

• Last season was the most watched in 21 years with viewership up 21% and attendance up 16% from 2022.

What they're saying: "The 2023 WNBA Finals set a record for the league on StubHub, with sales tripling compared to the previous year," said StubHub spokesperson Adam Budelli. "Now, as we head into this season, Caitlin Clark's impact is electrifying, sparking an unprecedented 15x increase in searches for the Indiana Fever after her WNBA draft announcement."

What we're watching: How hot those tickets are by the time the Fever open their 2024 WNBA season in Connecticut on May 14.

• The game starts at 7:30pm on ESPN 2.