The WNBA has been on a break since the All-Star Game in July. While the action resumes on ESPN on Thursday night with the New York Liberty visiting the Los Angeles Sparks, the league made a big announcement about next year's All-Star Game.
In what should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying any attention, the Indiana Fever will host the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It will be the first time the event has been held in Indiana.
Caitlin Clark is going to host the All-Star Game. If you're wondering what took so long, the WNBA had to decide where this year's ASG was before they knew where Clark was going to be drafted.
Indiana called NEXT ⬇️
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 15, 2024
The @IndianaFever are set to host the 2025 @ATT WNBA All-Star at Gainbridge Fieldhouse 🔥https://t.co/HbRsXexomQ
Clark chose not to participate in the 2023 WNBA All-Star weekend three-point contest last month. One would assume she'll have a more difficult time saying no in front of her home fans.
Attendance has been through the roof since the Fever drafted Clark earlier this year and the league should have no trouble selling out Gainbridge, which holds 17,274 fans. While it should be an incredibly hot ticket, it won't come close to being the most attended All-Star Game in history.
What's the record for WNBA All-Star Game attendance?
Washington's Capital One Arena recorded 19,487 fans in attendance in 2002 when it was the MCI Center and 2007 when it was the Verizon Center. In 1999, 18,649 people attended the first WNBA All-Star Game played at Madison Square Garden. More than 18,000 people showed up when they played the game there again in 2003.
This year's WNBA All-Star Game was held at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, with 16,407 people nearly filling the 17,000 seat arena. It was a huge attendance increase from the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game which was held in Las Vegas and had an announced attendance of 9,472.
While the game has been played in front of less than 10,000 fans multiple times (Uncasville, Conn., has hosted four times), there have been more than 15,000 fans in nine out of 20 All-Star Games.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever Get Cool WNBA All-Star Game News.
