"That's a little above my pay grade" - Caitlin Clark's old comments on United Center snub resurface as Sky adjusts WNBA schedule to host Fever

Last season, Caitlin Clark took the WNBA by storm, bringing with her a slew of new fans including collegiate basketball fans who had followed the star from her time at Iowa. Due to the influx of new fans, numerous teams around the league decided to shift home games played against the visiting Indiana Fever to bigger venues to accommodate the increased fan attention surrounding the rookie.

When Clark and the Fever traveled to Chicago to face off against Angel Reese and the Sky, however, the game wasn't moved to the United Center, which has over 10,000 more seats than the Chicago Sky's home, Wintrust Arena. Now that the Sky have moved both 2025 home games against the Fever to the home of the Chicago Bulls, old comments from Clark have resurfaced.

Last season, while speaking with members of the press, Clark said that she was surprised the Fever-Sky game wasn't taking place at the United Center. While speaking about the situation, she wondered aloud whether there was a potential conflict of interest keeping the game from being moved to the United Centre.

"I'm surprised we're not playing at the United Center," Clark said. I thought that would have been really good for the game and really good for all the women's basketball fans in Chicago. So maybe there's a conflict of some sort that I don't know about. Obviously, that's a little above my pay grade."

"We want to reward their passion" - Chicago Sky President Adam Fox discusses plan to hold games against Caitlin Clark's Fever at the United Center

Angel Reese #10 of the LSU Lady Tigers reacts in front of Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes towards the end of the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament championship game at American Airlines Center on April 02, 2023. - Source: Getty

Several teams around the league decided to move games against the Indiana Fever to larger venues last season. This season, instead of franchises moving games closer to the season, teams are getting a jump start on their plans. Chicago Sky has followed suit after the Washington Mystics announced that they were moving games against the Fever to the CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

In a statement on Friday, Sky President Adam Fox spoke about the team's decision to move games against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever to the United Center and said:

"Chicago Sky fans have consistently shown up for the team and the city. We want to reward their passion and dedication by bringing this excitement to an expanded capacity."

To date, no WNBA games have ever been held at the United Center. That, however, will change on June 7, when Caitlin Clark and the Fever visit Chicago. The game, which was initially set to take place at the 10,387-seat Wintrust Arena, will now take place at the United Center, which can hold over 20,000 fans.

The second game between the two teams in Chicago was originally set for July 26 has been pushed to July 27 due to the venue change.