Fox Sports 1's Colin Cowherd admitted he wasn't into the WNBA this year after Indiana Fever All-Star Caitlin Clark suffered a groin injury that kept her sidelined throughout most of the second half of the regular season. After aggravating her injury against the Connecticut Sun, Clark has been ruled out since July 15. Without checking the ratings, Cowherd is confident that the league's viewership dipped in the wake of Caitlin's injury.
Cowherd didn't hold back in explaining why the WNBA was vastly more interesting for him last year than in 2025, per Fox Sports 1's The Herd.
“There's a portion of the media that is very pro-WNBA, to a fault. And then there's those of us that are realistic,” Cowherd said. “How many times have you watched WNBA games since Caitlin Clark got hurt? Now, think about this: it led our show last summer. I think I led with it six times. I led with the WNBA. Either way, I don't talk about what I think is interesting. You noticed how I didn't talk about this year? It's not because I suddenly dislike the league. I thought it was growing.”
Clark was the biggest reason Cowherd would lead the show talking about the Fever.
“Anyone who wants to argue this, you're off your rocker. Caitlin Clark is the league,” Cowherd added. “I don't know what the ratings are. I haven't read them. But I know last year with Caitlin Clark, if the game was on, I would drive on, making it a point, ‘Hey, when's that game on?' Angel Reese is a good player. And I think she is valuable as a counter punch as a bit of a college and pro rival to Caitlin Clark.
“But for all the people that are like, ‘Hey, the growth of the league,' this is Tiger on the tour. There was a lot of other good golfers. Tiger was getting people to a TV singularly outside of the Masters or the U.S. Open,” Cowherd concluded.
Stephanie White on Fever's ‘no regression' plan for Caitlin Clark
Fever head coach Stephanie White revealed a cautious approach for Caitlin Clark. This late into the regular season, White says Clark must meet specific goals before returning to games, per Indianapolis Star's Chloe Peterson.
“I want to see her in practice, live in practice. I want to see her continue to work to not just build endurance, but to be able to handle contact 94 feet as it's going to be in-game, and to be able to do that and sustain it from an endurance standpoint, and that's going to take multiple practices to make sure that there's no regression.”
The Fever will host the Sky on Friday.
