Different Generations of Fans Fill Indiana Fever Games

Julie Bakehorn has attended Fever games since the team began playing in Indianapolis in 2000.

Atlanta Dream v Indiana Fever - Game Two — Source: Michael Hickey / Getty

INDIANAPOLIS — Longtime Indiana Fever fans say the team’s crowd used to be made up mostly of women who closely followed basketball. Since Caitlin Clark arrived, they say the fan base has grown bigger and more diverse, a change many say is not a bad thing.

Fans who spoke to us Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse said the biggest difference is the number of families, men, and first-time WNBA fans now showing up to games.

Julie Bakehorn has attended Fever games since the team began playing in Indianapolis in 2000. She says the crowd looks far different today than it did in the team’s early years.

“There were not the families, there were not the men that you see here now. She’s definitely changed the demographics for sure.”

Bakehorn says earlier crowds came mainly to support a new professional women’s basketball team in Indianapolis, while today’s fans follow the league and its players more closely.

Sara Hoffman drove from Toledo, Ohio, on Friday to celebrate a belated Mother’s Day with her son in Indianapolis. She calls herself a new Fever fan and says Clark drew her into the WNBA.

“She’s just so exciting to watch. It was the first time I started watching the WNBA.”

For longtime fans like Judy Hollingworth, a devoted supporter of Tamika Catchings who has a room in her home dedicated to the Fever legend, today’s atmosphere feels different.

“I think now it’s become a little more like the Pacers, more of a social atmosphere instead of people being as focused on the players,” she said. “Everybody loves Caitlin [Clark], and everybody loves [Sophie] Cunningham. I tried to find one of her jerseys, and there weren’t any left.”

Sophie Cunningham is another reason fans say the Fever continue to attract attention. During the offseason, the Fever signed her to a one-year contract, the team announced.

Whether fans came for Clark, Cunningham, or memories of Catchings, many longtime supporters say Fever basketball is now reaching people who never paid attention to the WNBA before.

“To me it kind of reminds me of when Michael Jordan came into the NBA back in the 1980s,” said a man who drove from Iowa to attend the game Friday night. “I mean, who was watching the NBA before that?”

He said he was not following the Fever before Clark entered the league.