Caitlin Clark’s impact pushes Mystics to larger arena for WNBA season finale, aiming for record attendance
The 28thWNBA season comes to an end tonight, wrapping up a year full of record-breaking moments. Since the WNBA Draft on April 15, the most-watched draft in league history with 2.4 million viewers, it was evident that this season would be one for the books. Much of this success is thanks to Caitlin Clark, the number one overall draft pick. Clark earned the most votes for the All-Star game, which became the most-watched All-Star event in WNBA history. Her influence is so significant that, for the second time this season, the Washington Mystics had to move their game against the Indiana Fever from their home arena in Washington D.C., the Entertainment & Sports Arena, to the larger Capital One Arena, home of the Washington Wizards.
The Clark Effect Continues into the Final Game
Here at Capital One Arena for Game 40 of the WNBA regular season. The Washington Mystics host Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever tonight at 7 ET.
Indiana has wrapped up the 6th playoff seed and the Mystics hope to nab the final — 8th seed — with a win and Chicago win tonight. pic.twitter.com/joG9GHTBDb
— Women's Sports Journal (@wsportj) September 19, 2024
The Washington Mystics (13-26) face a must-win situation in their season finale, as they are one of three teams vying for the final playoff spot. A loss would eliminate them. This pivotal game will take place in front of more than 20,000 fans at Capital One Arena, nearly five times the capacity of the Mystics’ usual home venue, as they face off against the Indiana Fever (20-19). Earlier this season, Washington also moved its home game against the Fever to Capital One Arena, where they sold out the facility, resulting in the largest WNBA crowd in 17 years and the league’s first $1 million-plus gate.
The WNBA’s Atlanta Dream typically play in a 3,500-seat arena.
But for tonight’s game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, they moved it to the nearby NBA arena.
The game sold out and set a franchise record with 17,575 fans in attendance.
Crazy.pic.twitter.com/4kPZLrL2IZ
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) June 22, 2024
For the Mystics to make the playoffs, they must first defeat Clark and the Fever. Second, they need the New York Liberty (32-7), the WNBA’s best team, to beat the Atlanta Dream (14-25). Finally, they require the Chicago Sky (13-26) to defeat the Connecticut Sun (27-12), who currently hold the third-best record in the league and might be Fever’s rival in the playoffs, notably, the Sun and Fever met in the first game of the season, marking Clark’s WNBA debut. With Clark leading the charge, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Fever sell out both home and away playoff games.
Clark’s Record-Breaking Finale
locked in for the last one 🔒 pic.twitter.com/i6lYq2kHH2
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 19, 2024
Caitlin Clark is on the verge of setting another historic record. She has already made 120 three-pointers this season and needs just nine more to surpass the record of 128 set by Sabrina Ionescu last year. If she makes all nine, it would not only break the season record but also her own rookie game record of seven, which she set earlier this season-ironically, against the Mystics at Capital One Arena. Could it happen again? It would be a storybook ending for Clark, setting the most three-pointers in a season as a rookie.
Clark has already secured numerous records: she’s the rookie with the most points, assists, and three-pointers in a single season. She also became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double-not once, but twice. Additionally, Clark holds the record for most assists in a single game and most assists in a season by a rookie. With just two more three-pointers, she’ll move into second place for the most threes made in a season overall. While the record is important, her focus will undoubtedly be on securing the Fever’s best record in 12 seasons, when they went 22-12 in 2012 and won the championship against the Minnesota Lynx.
