WNBA Disaster: No Caitlin Clark, No Angel Reese For Fever-Sky Game On ABC
Game was moved to United Center and put on ABC, expecting a huge audience
When the WNBA released its 2025 schedule, the biggest matchups were obvious: anytime the Indiana Fever, led by Caitlin Clark, faced the Chicago Sky, led by Angel Reese. On Sunday, the league had one of those matchups and ESPN/ABC claimed it for the very important 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon window.
Both Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese sat out Sunday's game due to injuries.
(Imagn Images)
One problem, though. Well, two, really (although one is clearly bigger than the other). Both Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are currently injured and neither suited up for the contest. However, Angel Reese still got dressed up for her usual pre-game "red carpet" stroll.
Not only was the game set for a prime TV slot, but the Sky moved the game from its usual arena – Wintrust Arena, which seats about 10,000 fans – to the home of the Chicago Bulls – the United Center, which holds 23,500 fans.
Unfortunately, that was in anticipation of Caitlin Clark coming to town. Lucky for the fans who came to see their hero, Clark still signed plenty of autographs before the game.
When Clark and Reese face one another, it usually means huge crowds and a huge TV audience. But many fans didn't attend the game because of Clark sitting out.
When these two teams met for the season-opening game, the contest drew an average of 2.5 million viewers and peaked at 3.1 million. The network says it was the most-watched WNBA game ever on ESPN. That was despite the matchup not being competitive in the slightest – Clark's Fever demolished Reese's Sky, 93-58.
We'll have to wait and see what the TV ratings look like – they should be released Tuesday – but expect a precipitous drop from the number these two teams put up in May. While Reese sitting out doesn't help, it's obviously Clark's absence that really hurts the WNBA. Clark didn't play in the league's All-Star Game and the ratings suffered tremendously.
Obviously, the numbers for Sunday's contest aren't going to come close to the record viewership these teams have produced in the past. The question is, how much will they fall?