"Indiana is the new Hollywood" - Caitlin Clark's $222,154 teammate boasts about Fever’s newfound spotlight in WNBA

Last year, the WNBA community got to see the "Caitlin Clark effect" firsthand through metrics like TV viewership and live attendance. Of course, the best persons to attest to this are the Indiana Fever players who played alongside Clark on the court.

On the debut episode of the "Easy Buckets" podcast released on Friday, host Erica Wheeler and co-host JT had a conversation about this topic with Wheeler's Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell. Wheeler — whose average salary is $222,154 as per Spotrac — even likened Indiana to the entertainment hub of the world:

"I tell everybody, I feel like Indiana is the new Hollywood. Everybody wants to sit courtside," claimed Wheeler. "Everybody wants to get to the game to see us play."

The numbers back up what Wheeler and Mitchell saw with their own eyes. In September 2024, AP's Tim Reynolds reported that Fever games had an average attendance of 16,084 during the 2024 season. This was almost double that of non-Fever games, which typically drew 8,552 fans.

Reynolds, along with Fox executive Michael Mulvihill, also reported that an average of 1.178 million viewers tuned in to see 2024 Fever games on TV. All other WNBA games that season, meanwhile, usually drew an audience of around 394,000.

Wheeler and Mitchell can certainly appreciate the boost in attention that Caitlin Clark has provided, given that both of them have spent several seasons in Indiana. Wheeler has had two stints (amounting to over half of her career) with the Fever, while the newly re-signed Mitchell will be playing her eighth WNBA season alongside Wheeler and Clark.

Caitlin Clark's teammate excited about Indiana Fever's new additions, playoff prospects

Elsewhere on the internet, another teammate of Caitlin Clark's expressed her excitement for the upcoming season, particularly because of roster and coaching changes.

On the "Locked on Women's Basketball" podcast, Lexie Hull shared her optimistic view of the Fever's 2025 season:

"Getting to our final roster and seeing what that's going to look like," Hull said when asked to look ahead to the team's immediate future. "I'm just excited about the leadership that's coming in...Hopefully, we can have a greater and longer push in the postseason this year. [Timestamp - 9:00]

In all likelihood, Hull is referring to additions like 15-year veteran DeWanna Bonner, new head coach Stephanie White, and new player development coach Keith Porter. These roster and coaching developments will make the Fever even more of a must-see team in the upcoming season.