INDIANAPOLIS — Tippy-toed kids with arms stretched over stanchions and weighed down by basketballs waited eagerly outside a hotel to catch a glimpse of their favorite players. People danced through downtown to Taylor Swift’s ‘I’m feeling 22.’ A crowd gathered to shoot hoops on orange courts painted onto streets, dusty from the hum of construction all around.
It was 9:30 in the morning of the WNBA All-Star Game.
Caitlin Clark, larger than life in Indiana, quite literally loomed over the festivities, her image adorning high-rise buildings, posters and merchandise. The Indiana Fever guard didn’t play because of an injury, but still captained the team from the sideline and made appearances throughout the weekend.
The weekend. Activations galore — a Coach party, Lilly fan center with branded basketballs, Wilson pop-up with Clark selling her signature line and more. Player appearances all over town. National media descending. Three days of fan zones featuring souvenirs, swag, bounce houses, games and watch parties, culminating with fireworks after the Saturday night main event broadcasted by ABC.
And, of course, the Stud Budz.
Dark clouds rolled through downtown Indianapolis just hours before tipoff, but the weather cleared up in time for the game and it seemed nothing could dampen the spirits of the fans inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
‘Amazing,’ said Hartley Hensler, 7, who flew in from Las Vegas with her mother, Jessica, for their third WNBA All-Star Game. ‘And there’s a lot of posters on buildings. There’s a lot of A’Ja (Wilson). She’s even on buses.’
Who’s Hensler’s favorite player? “Jackie Young. See, her name is on the back,’ she grinned, turning around to show the back of her jersey.
The hype and celebrations of a women’s sports league reaching new heights of popularity is happening parallel to contentious negotiations over the Collective Bargaining Agreement. A CBA meeting Thursday did not go well and they took the court Saturday in warm-up shirts that read, ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us.’
The players cite the league’s impressive growth and trajectory while negotiating for better pay and benefits. And that growth was tangible this weekend.
Sally McCracken and Debbie Heinrichs, both of Plainfield, Indiana, and Fever season ticket holders, were at their first WNBA All-Star Game since 2003 in New York City. When asked how this year’s event compared, their eye widened and McCracken said, ‘Oh, so many more people and so much more excitement. It’s amazing to see everyone get the attention they deserve. I think Caitlin has driven a lot of that, but it’s not like the others weren’t deserving. They’ve deserved it for a long time.’
WNBA Live, a two-day fan festival at the Indiana Convention Center, is much bigger than the previous three years it’s been held. WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert said there are more than 25 brand activations across 125,000 square feet this year, a more than sixfold increase since 2022, when four brands activated in Chicago for the very first WNBA Live.
Among the more than 20,000 fans who attended WNBA Live was Thomas Brown of Indianapolis and his 3-year-old daughter Zora.
‘I bought my baby a jersey for the first time and some shoes,’ Brown told USA TODAY Sports during halftime of the All-Star game. ‘This is her first time coming to a basketball game and I thought it was very important for her to have some role models to look up to when it comes to basketball. She’s loving it so far. The atmosphere is great. It’s really loud, so we had to put some earphones on her, but other than that, a lot of excitement, a lot of energy from the crowd.’
An announced crowd of 16,988 showed up for the All-Star Game, packing the arena’s three tiers of seats and cheering while lasers, lights and music filled the air. The halftime show featured a GloRilla performance and, at the close of the third quarter, there was an aerialist hanging from the ceiling.
Celebrities and big names in the sports world lined the courtside seats, including comedian Leslie Jones, six-time NBA All-Star Pau Gasol and South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley.
But the loudest part of the night came after the game, when the crowd voiced its solidarity with the WNBA players fighting for more equitable pay. ‘Pay Them! Pay Them!’ Chants rose above the voice of Engelbert as she attempted to announce Napheesa Collier MVP after she led her team to a win over Team Clark.
‘I see a bunch of strong women who aren’t going to back down and fight for what we want,’ Collier said after accepting her award, the crowd’s chants changing to cheers. ‘I couldn’t do it without them.’
