Fever-Sky garners 'most expensive' WNBA ticket prices in highly anticipated rematch

Ticket prices for Sunday’s Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game featuring Fever G Caitlin Clark and Sky F Angel Reese are the “most expensive for a WNBA game ever,” according to Jordan Valinsky of CNN.com. Prices are averaging “around $253” according to TickPick -- “187% higher than the Sky’s average purchase price of $88.” Valinsky noted the cheapest seat is “around $250 with the most expensive ticket on sale going for more than $9,000.” Last Sunday’s Fever-Sky game was the most-watched WNBA game on any network in 23 years. A TickPick representative said that excitement for this weekend’s game is “so high that ticket prices are 116% more expensive than this past season’s tickets” for Bulls home games, which averaged $117 (CNN.com, 6/20).

THE MAIN CHARACTERS: THE ATHLETIC’s Sabreena Merchant noted the “characters at play seem like the deciding factor.” The matchup has “two high-profile rookies” in Clark and Reese, who “would draw attention no matter what markets they played in given their superstar followings and collegiate history.” Merchant: They’ve been playing against each other on big stages for years, they’ve both experienced success, and they’re both highly competitive, making it an ideal matchup to tune in for.” THE ATHLETIC’s Ben Pickman wrote since Cathy Engelbert became WNBA Commissioner in 2019, she has “emphasized the importance of building rivalries as a key ingredient to growing interest in the league.” She has said that establishing rivalries “helps to create more household names and matchups,” and it “enhances the storytelling and marketability of games, and in turn the league.” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/20).

WELCOME TO ATLANTA: In Atlanta, Rick Farlow wrote the WNBA is “taking over State Farm Arena” Friday night for the Atlanta Dream-Fever matchup -- the first time since 2019 that State Farm Arena has hosted a WNBA game. The Dream have played games at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, but high ticket demand for the Dream-Fever game “necessitated a move to the larger venue.” Gateway Center Arena’s capacity is listed at 3,500 while State Farm Arena has a capacity of about 17,000. Dream President & COO Morgan Shaw Parker said, “The Hawks and the State Farm (Arena) team are really partnering with us to help amplify this on a bigger scale.” Though Gateway Center Arena has a listed capacity of 3,500, Dream games have “drawn more fans than that.” Shaw Parker said, “This is nearly 20,000. A sellout is considered at least 17,099. We’re pacing right now to sell this out. I’m anticipating an announcement on Friday” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 6/20).

BARRIER TO ENTRY: In Phoenix, Phil Boas wrote Clark is a white woman working “to break through a cultural -- not color -- barrier of women’s professional basketball.” The WNBA is a league “built mostly by Black women athletes who are proud of that accomplishment” and see it “ignored by all the hoopla around a young white player who had become the league’s biggest star even before she suited up for her first game.” Boas: “Why does a white player get all this attention and praise when she hasn’t done any of the heavy lifting over the decades that preceded her?” The story of Clark is the “best story in America this summer because it is a tale about race and culture and competition and composure.” She “does not react to the hazing” as she is “gracious about fellow players and those who preceded her.” Boas: “The Jackie Robinson story was a triumph over evil. The Caitlin Clark story is a triumph over stereotypes -- the stereotype, as Hollywood once put it, that white men and women can’t jump” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/18).