“If last season was about finding out how big the Clark Effect would be, this one has been about the ripple effects,” wrote Bloomberg reporters Ira Boudway, Silas Brown, and Carrington York back in July. Caitlin Clark’s injury troubles provided analysts with a way to determine just how much her absence affects game attendance and viewership rate, not just for the Fever but the W as a whole. Earlier reports may have indicated a sharp drop, but Clark’s franchise, the Indiana Fever, isn’t seeing any of that.

In fact, Sophie Cunningham herself is surprised at the numbers that continue to show support for the Fever during the team’s playoff run. On ‘The Young Man and the Three’ podcast, she admitted that “this basketball, stage that we’re playing on is above any other team right now. Our fans, no matter where we go, we’re going to the biggest arenas. We have more fans than they do. Like it is insane. But it has been so much fun.”

Cunningham also admitted that “they’re still selling out our arena and, like really five of us aren’t even playing. They’re selling it out in other places. I know. Which is insane”. No sooner was this episode uploaded on YouTube than WNBA reporter Chloe Peterson provided stats to back Sophie Cunningham’s claim.

According to the tweet, the Fever-Aces Game 1 on Sunday averaged a whopping 1.4 million viewers on ABC. With this stat, Game 1 of the series became the most-watched semifinal game on Disney networks. However, that wasn’t the only game the Fever could boast about regarding having high viewership.

According to Indy Star’s Chloe Peterson, Game 2 of Fever-Dream averaged 1.5 million viewers on ESPN. Those numbers made the matchup the second-most-watched first-round Game 2 in WNBA history. Meanwhile, Game 1 reportedly brought in 951,000 viewers on ABC. While this was a 47% dip from the 1.8 million viewers who watched the Fever-Sun game last season, it is still a significant number.

According to reports, Caitlin Clark’s absence during the later part of the season did not slow the surge of interest around the Fever. In fact, the Fever franchise led the league in combined home and road attendance, reportedly bringing in nearly 700,000 fans in total. In comparison, other teams brought in numbers that were around 100,000 less.

Though Caitlin Clark’s absence might not be affecting the viewership, her absence is still felt by the Fever squad. Fortunately, Sophie Cunningham continues showing that she has her teammates’ backs from time to time.

Sophie Cunningham Defends Caitlin Clark After WNBA’s Fine

Even when watching from the sidelines, Caitlin Clark wasn’t pleased with how the first round of the playoffs went for her team. After all, each contest featured no fewer than 36 fouls, and Game 1 alone accumulated 43 whistles. Taking to social media, Clark dropped comments like “Elite bench mob” and “Refs couldn’t stop us”. Unfortunately, the league did not take the remarks in a light-hearted manner, and the Fever star received a $200 fine. But moral policing aside, her teammate had her back.

In a recent tweet to her 272,000 followers, Sophie Cunningham highlighted Cailtin Clark’s X tweet, in which she acknowledged the league’s actions by writing “Got fined $200 for this lol😂😂😂😂😂BENCH MOB WILL BE EVEN MORE ROWDY TOMORROW LETS GOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! @IndianaFever”. Cunningham responded by saying, “That’s gonna really break the bank for her. Starting a GoFundMe now!”.

This might be the first time that Sophie Cunningham stood in support of another person’s disdain towards the referees, but it isn’t the first time she has taken a shot at the officials, too.

Back in August, Cunningham revealed on her podcast that the WNBA had fined her $1,500 for her comments about the league’s refs during her podcast’s premiere episode. Before that, in July, the shooting guard/small forward was fined $500 after she put out a TikTok post lip-synching to Sabrina Carpenter’s song ‘Manchild’. It featured references to “some refs” being “stupid,” “slow” or “useless.”

Since Cailtin Clark’s current net worth is listed as $10 million, a $200 fine won’t affect her that much. Knowing that your teammate has your back, meanwhile, can go a long way to warming one’s heart.