Indiana

How Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark’s injury is affecting fans and ticket prices

Published

10 months ago

May 31, 2025

How Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark’s injury is affecting fans and ticket prices

INDIANAPOLIS — With hopes to meet Caitlin Clark, Kestas Jociuf and his 8-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, left their seats in section 119 and went to the tunnel next to the Indiana Fever bench. Before her family started their nine-hour drive from Minnesota to Indiana, Elizabeth painted a picture draped with Fever logos and a “Caitlin, we love you” message.

The Jociuf’s attempt to meet Clark was successful. Elizabeth’s painting now has a new owner.

“Caitlin actually took the picture,” Jociuf said. “Elizabeth probably wrote Caitlin Clark at least 14 times on that drawing.”

Elizabeth and her father also told Clark to feel better soon, to which she thanked them. The Fever announced Monday that Clark would miss at least two weeks with a left quad strain. Since Clark’s injury, the Fever played the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun, losing both matchups. Indiana will be without their star guard for at least the next two games, when they host the Mystics on Tuesday and travel to the Chicago Sky on June 7.

Jociuf and his wife, Sulema, had taken their daughter and 10-year-old son to see Clark when she visited the Minnesota Lynx last season. Elizabeth and her brother fell in love with Clark, so Sulema and Jociuf bought seats closer to the court for the family’s first visit to Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

While Sulema admitted she was worried for Clark after hearing of her injury, she said her kids were “upset” when they learned Clark wasn’t playing.

“The visit was worth it even though she’s not playing because we wanted to experience Gainbridge and it’s been great. They have a lot of cool things for the kids. Also, there are other good people on the team,” Sulema said. “I told them we can get more tickets later in the season (to watch Caitlin).”

The family of four spent $900 on their tickets. On game day, the price for the same tickets in section 117 was $174.70. The price difference reflects the impact of Clark’s injury on tickets.

IndyStar collected data from Ticketmaster and found that selected ticket prices for Clark’s future matchups against the Sun, Mystics and Sky, in which she is expected to play, increased by as much as 366%.

Note: These are resale prices and may change daily. These numbers were logged up to two hours before the Fever and Sun tipped off Friday.

The most expensive ticket in section 120 for Friday’s contest against the Sun cost $86.25. When Indiana hosts the Sun on June 17, a ticket in the same section will cost $140.30, a 62.7% increase.

The price difference for a seat nearer to the court when the Mystics return to town Aug. 15 is more consumer-friendly. A seat in section 116 on Tuesday will cost $391.95. The price will increase 11% when Washington makes its final regular-season visit to Indiana.

Sky and Fever games are always a hot ticket, with Clark and Sky forward Angel Reese headlining the matchup. If a fan desires to sit in section 225 at the United Center and watch Indiana and Chicago square off in their WNBA Commissioner’s Cup matchup, the cheapest ticket will cost $57.50.

When the two teams reconvene in Chicago on July 27, the cheapest seat in section 225 will cost $267.95.

Although Clark’s availability may alter ticket prices, the impact of her presence remains the same.

”My 8- and 5-year-old daughters were sad not to see her play, but they were still glad to see her in the building,” said Chris Gerrity, a Fever fan who bought tickets for his family before Clark’s injury was announced. “We are still excited to support the city, the rest of the players and the WNBA.”

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Indiana

Retro Indy: Five years ago Covid confined March Madness to Indiana

Published

2 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Retro Indy: Five years ago Covid confined March Madness to Indiana

Just three days before Selection Sunday in March of 2020, the NCAA announced that March Madness, like so many other events that spring, would be cancelled due to the new virus upending life. The decision marked the first time in tournament history that the final weeks of the college basketball season would not be played, squashing Atlanta’s plans to host the Final Four.

When the following year rolled around, the NCAA decided that March Madness would not succumb to the virus once more.

With a vaccine only on the horizon and hundreds of Americans still dying each day, the organization announced in November of 2020 that while the tournament would go on, it would certainly not be business as usual. All 67 games, NCAA officials said, would be held in one location. Central Indiana was the first choice as Indianapolis had been on tap to host the Final Four April 3-5.

The plan, said NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt in a November 2020 IndyStar article was to present “a safe, responsible and fantastic March Madness tournament unlike any other we’ve experienced.”

In January the NCAA made it official: All games would be played in and around Indianapolis in a modified version of a bubble.

Holding the tournament in one place just made sense, NCAA officials told IndyStar. Unlike in a typical year when a winning team would travel multiple times before the championship, this system would minimize travel, which could inadvertently expose players and coaches to the virus.

Two months later when the tournament kicked off on March 18, 55 of the 67 games were scheduled to be played in Indianapolis venues, such as Gainbridge (then Bankers Life) Fieldhouse, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indiana Farmers Coliseum and Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse. Purdue’s Mackey Arena and IU’s Assembly Hall also hosted games.

While the first Covid vaccine had arrived a few months earlier, few people outside of first responders and the most vulnerable had been immunized, so in an effort to avoid large crowds, the Indianapolis sites all capped tickets at 25% capacity. That meant only 17,500 people could attend games at the largest venue, Lucas Oil Stadium. The college arenas allowed far smaller audiences, with IU limiting attendance to 500 people.

A week before the tournament began Marion County Public Health Department officials and Mayor Joe Hogsett asked attendees to make smart public health choices, such as social distancing and obeying the face masks mandate. Referees donned masks as much as possible as did coaches and players on the bench.

The NCAA regularly tested athletes, administering 28,311 tests Covid tests during the tournament, 15 of which came back positive.

Post-mortems after the tournament asked whether the NCAA had made the right call. Two high profile deaths occurred in the aftermath of the tournament — one a University of Alabama superfan who had traveled to Indy for the games and the other a St. Elmo bartender. But proving a direct link between their deaths and the tournament would prove impossible, and some public health experts said the NCAA had done everything it could to protect athletes and fans short of canceling the event.

A study conducted by IU, Regenstrief researchers and others that appeared in August 2021 in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that while mask wearing had theoretically been compulsory, about a quarter of attendees at the games were either not wearing masks or doing so inappropriately. Still, in an IndyStar article about the study Indiana Sports Corps president Ryan Vaughn termed the event “a resounding success.”

The following year, with a vaccine widely available and far fewer daily deaths from the virus, the tournament returned to a typical schedule, concluding in New Orleans’ Ceasars Superdome. More than 69,00 fans attended the final games, according to the NCAA. Local authorities had lifted the mask requirement by this point.

“Last year was about survival. Just having championships in any way, single site, keep everybody safe and be successful,” Gavitt said in an NCAA news release in late April 2022. “I think this year was about advancing.”

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Federal legislation that Braun calls ‘crazy’ is aimed at Bears and Indiana – Indianapolis Business Journal

Published

14 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Federal legislation that Braun calls ‘crazy’ is aimed at Bears and Indiana – Indianapolis Business Journal

U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Greg Casar, D-Texas, say the bill would protect taxpayers from being extorted by team owners for huge subsidies. The legislation would likely face an uphill climb in the Republican-controlled Congress.

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Indiana

Record warmth followed by strong storms tonight | March 26, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH-TV) – Strong thunderstorms likely later this evening with all severe weather threats possible. It is going to be warm and windy with record highs today. Much cooler air works into Indiana for the end of the week.

TODAY: Partly cloudy conditions later this afternoon with warm and breezy conditions. It is going to be a beautiful and summer-like day across parts of Indiana. We will look for high temperatures to climb into the lower eighties which will set a new daily high record. The record for today is 80 set back in 1907. Winds will be gusty out of the southwest near 20 to 30 mph.

TONIGHT: A cold front approaches the state bringing a really good chance of strong to severe thunderstorms. A few thunderstorms may develop out ahead of the main line and some of those thunderstorms could contain some large hail along with a tornado risk as well. We are under a level 3 risk of strong storms out of a level 5. So there is confidence that a lot of these storms could reach severe criteria. Threats would be damaging winds and large hail. The tornado risk is low across parts of Indianapolis but it is not zero. A slightly higher risk of tornadic activity is possible in northern sections of Indiana.

Heavy rainfall could also lead to some flooding in parts of the state. Areas may see anywhere between 1 to 3 inches of rainfall.

Best timing on the thunderstorm activity will be anytime after 8:00 p.m. and lasting until Friday morning around 4.

TOMORROW: A few early morning rain showers will be possible on Friday. The main weather story is that it will be much cooler. High temperatures will climb around 49 which is below our normal high of 56. Winds switch direction out of the northeast and it will be a bit breezy at times as well. Low temperatures late Friday night into Saturday morning will drop into the upper twenties.

7 DAY EXTENDED FORECAST: A chilly start early Saturday morning but we will see lots of sunshine for the afternoon. High temperatures will climb around 52 for the afternoon.

Cloud cover returns on Sunday but it will be dry for the most part. Look for high temperatures to climb into the lower 60s.

Warmer next week with temperatures reaching the low and even middle and upper 70s by the middle part of the week. A dry start on Monday with some scattered showers possible on Tuesday and Wednesday.