WNBA Indiana Fever Face Key Player Absence Amid Rising Ratings

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark will miss at least two weeks and a minimum of four games due to a left quadriceps strain, marking the first time she has missed a regular-season game in her collegiate and professional career. Despite her injury, Clark recently helped set record viewership numbers for the WNBA, including a game that drew 2.22 million viewers on CBS, the second-most-watched WNBA game on the network. The Fever face the challenge of playing without Clark, with veteran Sydney Colson stepping into the starting point guard role to provide experience and leadership alongside Sophie Cunningham. Analysts and coaches see Clark's injury as an opportunity for the team to explore new dynamics and for Clark to gain a fresh perspective on the game from the sidelines. The injury has also affected ticket prices for upcoming Fever games, with notable declines in prices for road games without Clark. Clark’s body language during recovery reflects her impatience, highlighting the difficulty of adjusting to forced rest after an uninterrupted playing streak of 185 games stretching back to college.