Caitlin Clark played the first WNBA playoff game of her career this weekend, but the league did her and the fans no favors when it came to the schedule of the game.
The WNBA scheduled the first game of the playoff series between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun for Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., which is obviously right in the middle of Sunday’s afternoon slate of NFL games.
Needless to say, this decision sparked outrage from fans who believed the league should have scheduled Clark’s postseason debut at a more opportune time to maximize exposure.
“Terrible job by the wnba scheduling this Caitlin Clark playoff game. The league’s biggest draw by a mile, and she tips off at 3 pm – right when the 1 pm NFL games get into crunch time. Why not start early? Or have g1 Monday?” Jason McIntyre of The Herd on Fox Sports said in a post on X.
“Can you imagine starting the #WNBA playoffs on a sunday at same time as #NFL ? really . You have #CaitlinClark playing today ? wow . i get networks want counter programming to football but this is just stupid,” radio personality Gabriel Morency said in a post.
“The WNBA schedules Caitlin Clark’s first playoff game during the NFL witching hour. Makes no sense,”
Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post said in a post.
“Ive never seen a professional sports league make idiotic decisions in how they are running their operation as I’m seeing with the WNBA. Interest is at an all-time high but they choose to start the playoffs – and schedule a showcase game with Caitlin Clark – vs. the NFL?!?!?!” another fan said in a social media post.
We’ll have to see whether or not Clark can still bring in solid ratings despite the poor scheduling from the WNBA.
