TORONTO: More than 19,000 fans packed Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday to watch Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever take on the Toronto Tempo, offering another glimpse of the growing appetite for the WNBA beyond the US.
For Clark, one of the biggest names in women’s basketball, it was a first visit to Canada and another opportunity to witness the reach she and the league have developed.
“Basketball is a game that brings a lot of people together,” Clark said before the game. “And I think that’s what’s so amazing about it.”
The “Caitlin Clark effect” has been a major part of the WNBA’s recent surge in attention. The Fever have become the league’s most-watched team, while games involving Indiana have repeatedly attracted larger audiences and prompted teams to move fixtures to bigger arenas to accommodate demand.
That effect was evident in Toronto. Even before the Fever arrived at Scotiabank Arena, Clark noticed supporters waiting outside wearing her jersey.
“Even when we were driving up on the bus, there were already people waiting outside in my jersey,” Clark said. “Those are kind of pinch-me moments. Those are moments you never take for granted. It’s really cool that people are waiting two-and-a-half hours before the game.”
The Fever went on to beat the Tempo 101-95 for their fifth consecutive victory, with Clark finishing with 24 points and seven assists. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 29 points, extending her streak of 20-point games to 20 and tying A’ja Wilson for the longest such run in WNBA history.
Toronto pushed Indiana until the closing stages, with Marina Mabrey leading the hosts with 22 points and Brittney Sykes scoring 15 on her return after eight weeks out with a foot injury.
But the significance of Tuesday’s occasion extended beyond the result.
‘Bring people together’
Clark said the ability to attract new fans to women’s basketball is something she hopes will form an important part of her legacy.
“I hope, when I’m done playing one day, that’s what people remember the most about me is the way I’ve been able to unite people to cheer on basketball and love a game or bring people together to love a sport in a way that they maybe never have before,” she said.
“There’s so many people that have come up to me and been like (saying), I’ve never watched women’s basketball before, and I don’t take offense to that.
“I think that’s a really cool thing, to bring people in that have maybe never experienced something that I’ve loved all my life.”
The enthusiasm surrounding Clark’s Canadian debut was another example of the wider audience the WNBA is attracting, with the Fever star describing what it meant for fans to see in person players they had previously followed on television or online.
“It just shows how much this one opportunity means to people to be able to see a player that they probably watched on TV a lot and experience a moment that they’ve felt through the TV screen or seen online,” she said.
Cunningham sees potential beyond US
The WNBA’s growing international audience was also on Sophie Cunningham’s mind after the game.
Responding to a question from Arab News during the postgame press conference about the league’s growing following in the Middle East and how playing outside the US could help grow the game, Cunningham pointed to the international experience of WNBA players.
“For a long time, a lot of us W players actually had to go overseas,” Cunningham said.
“There’s a lot of talent around the world. And I think it’s awesome that women are at all-time high and there’s a lot of eyes on us. And so we’re going to put on. But I think when you can expand outside the US, especially right here with Canada, there’s so many young girls that are going to inspire to be us.
“All they got to see is someone who looks like them, who’s kind of like them a little bit, and then they’re going to come take our shoes one day. And so it’s really fun.
“And coach says it, it’s a privilege that we have all this eyes and all this pressure on us. And we just get to go out there and have fun. We get to dribble basketball for a living. And so that’s pretty awesome.”
Cunningham has enjoyed a growing profile of her own this season. The Fever guard broke the internet earlier this summer with her 22-second pointing stare-down with Phoenix Mercury veteran DeWanna Bonner, a moment that became one of the most recognizable images of the WNBA season.
Toronto marked another first for Cunningham, who had never previously visited Canada.
“I want to shout out the Tempo crowd and the city. I think we’ve had so much fun. It’s my first time being in Canada. It’s a lot of our first times being in Canada. But the crowd was absolutely amazing.
“And I think that’s what sports is all about. You’re gonna get booed, you’re gonna get cheers. But just the fact that they’re so passionate, they’re loud and they’re putting on for the city, I think it’s amazing. So shout out to you guys for coming out and supporting.”
The atmosphere at Scotiabank Arena added weight to Cunningham’s point. Toronto is the WNBA’s first franchise outside the US, and the response to the Tempo’s inaugural season has offered another indication of the potential audience for women’s basketball beyond the league’s traditional borders.
Tuesday’s victory moved Indiana to 24-12 and extended their winning streak to five games, but the sight of more than 19,000 fans filling the arena also spoke to the bigger story unfolding around the league: a WNBA increasingly finding an audience well beyond the US.
