“We know that we have a tough opponent in New York. We know that it’s going to be a challenge, no matter what, and we’ve just got to get locked in and ready to compete.” Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White sounded serious after her star athlete, Caitlin Clark, displayed signs of an injury on Tuesday. While Clark took to the bench during the final quarter against the Connecticut Sun, there was a larger issue awaiting the locker room: the New York Liberty.

Well, coach Sandy Brondello heads a formidable team comprising a strong veteran presence. But while the team boasts of a balanced combination of strong defenders and players on the offensive end, the Fever is not far behind. As the third-ranked team in the Eastern Conference division standings, the team has shown massive progress by clinching the 2025 Commissioner’s Cup. They worked on their pacing, momentum, offensive-building, and majorly learnt from past defensive errors. Yet they rely on none other than the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year to limit the Liberty.

After all, Caitlin Clark jumped off the bench with a 32-point comeback against the Liberty. And soon enough, the team gained an edge over the defending champions and served them with the first cold loss of the season. But fast forward to the moments before the matchup against Liberty on July 16, the Indiana Fever took to social media and shared a gut-wrenching report and wrote, “Status Report for tonight’s game against New York: Caitlin Clark – Questionable (right groin).”

Previously, HC White had said they were taking Clark’s status “one step at a time” before the injury report confirmed concerns. Further, this ambiguous injury report was enough to send the fans into a frenzy, who thought this ‘questionable’ status was put in place only to drive ticket sales. Let’s see what they had to say.

Fans question Indiana Fever’s transparency ahead of NY Liberty tipoff

After the team released an injury report hours before the tipoff against the New York Liberty, fans were not convinced, and they were quick to call out the decision. A user wrote, “Here we go again: DAY TO DAY for 2 weeks. We are not stupid- we know what type of game u are playing, keep the fans alive…” Another user commented, “Indiana Fever’s phone : Ring Ring- Hello ? — “Yeah, this is Cathy, we are guna need you to be quiet about Caitlin’s injury so the game tonight sells out. Do it or we will turn the refs on you.” Sarcastically accusing the league, the user suggested Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s direct involvement in the recent injury update surrounding Clark.

The user felt that the franchise and the league had been hiding Clark’s actual injury reports to keep garnering ticket sales ahead of the tipoff against the Liberty. The fans have clearly learnt their lesson from the past instances. Despite being on the sidelines owing to a left groin injury, Clark’s playing status remained day-to-day for a good two weeks till her recent return.

Further, another user accused the Indiana Fever of playing games in order to hold on to the fanbase. They hinted that the fans are aware of what the front office is planning to achieve by not declaring Clark OUT directly. After all, we all know by now the kind of eyes the 23-year-old brings to the game. Need proof? As per NBC News, “Caitlin Clark was responsible for 26.5% of all WNBA economic activity last season, including revenue from merchandise, ticket sales and television, according to Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus and an expert at valuations.”

Now wonder the fans were furious about being kept in the dark as they demanded more transparency from the franchise, writing, “Admin, I respect you have very difficult job from time to time and in these moments I don’t envy you….. But we have accepted she’s not playing, we would just like clarity on the severity of the injury & would appreciate more transparency moving forward,” they wrote.

During a matchup against the Connecticut Sun, where the Fever won, Clark had tweaked her right groin and was left in tears on the bench after checking out. What followed was an evaluation that left the injury status of the Fever star as “questionable.”

“Everyone knows she’s out. Everyone knows she’s going to be out for awhile. Don’t play this game of making her questionable every night for the next few weeks because you’re worried about ticket sales,” a user blurted. Another user added, “Questionable give us all a break she ain’t playing stop trying to use Caitlin still to sell tickets it’s starting to get pathetic.” And the league might have genuine worry here, as evidenced in late May, where the massive impact at the gate was felt.

Tickets for the Fever’s game against the Washington Mystics were down 47 percent since the announcement of Clark’s injury, as per TickPick as reported by Front Office Sports. The same matchup was moved from Mystics’ usual home venue of 4,200-seat CareFirst Arena in Washington, to 11,614-seat CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore to accommodate the interest in an expected visit by Clark.

To top that, the get-in price for Indiana’s trip to Sky on June 7 fell 71 percent. Even that game was moved from the 10,387-seat Wintrust Arena to the 20,917-seat United Center in anticipation of Clark’s participation. The team has been using Clark to make a stronghold on the ticket sales as well as the viewership.

However, now that the tactic has been coyly unveiled by the fans, do you think any of the officials will acknowledge this?