Tegna expands distribution of Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever games, including to Iowa

Two weeks after announcing plans to broadcast select Indiana Fever games via its Indianapolis station, WTHR, Tegna is expanding its distribution.

On Wednesday, the media conglomerate announced that — in addition to Indianapolis — it will air 17 Fever games for free in 11 different markets during Caitlin Clark’s highly anticipated rookie campaign.

Notably, that “unprecedented” 12-market footprint includes Tegna’s stations in Clark’s hometown of Des Moines and Davenport (Quad Cities), with both cities possessing plenty of fans of the former Iowa Hawkeyes superstar. Additionally, Tegna will air its 17-game slate of Fever games over local airwaves on its Louisville station, WHAS, as well as local stations owned by Nexstar (Champaign-Springfield, Ill.), Gray Television (Cincinnati, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Lexington, South Bend), Sinclair (Dayton) and Coastal Television Broadcasting Group (Lafayette, Ind.).

Tegna’s full slate of Fever games is as follows:

• Thurs., May 16 vs. Liberty, 7 p.m. ET
• Wed., May 22 @ Storm, 10 p.m. ET
• Sat., May 25 @ Aces, 9 p.m. ET
• Thurs., May 30 vs. Storm, 7 p.m. ET
• *Sat., June 1 vs. Sky, 1 p.m. ET (subject to change)
• Sun., June 2 @ Liberty, 7 p.m. ET
• Mon., June 10 @ Sun, 7 p.m. ET
• Thurs., June 13 vs. Dream, 7 p.m. ET
• Sun., June 23 @ Sky, 6 p.m. ET
• Thurs., June 27 @ Storm, 10 p.m. ET
• Wed., July 10 vs. Mystics, 12 p.m. ET
• Mon., August 26 @ Dream, 7:30 p.m. ET
• Wed., September 4 vs. Sparks, 7 p.m. ET
• Sun., September 8 vs. Dream, 4 p.m. ET
• Wed., September 11 vs. Aces, 7 p.m. ET
• Sun., September 15 vs. Wings, 3 p.m. ET

“This is a pivotal moment for our Fever team and women’s basketball, more broadly, and this groundbreaking partnership with Tegna will ensure more fans than ever will be able to watch this historic season,” Rick Fuson, Pacers Sports and Entertainment chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Added Tegna senior vice president of media operations Brad Ramsey: “We could not be more excited to make these exciting WNBA games available to more fans, in more homes, across more markets, including Caitlin Clark’s home state of Iowa. We are grateful to the Pacers organization, the WNBA, and our broadcast partners for their trust, and for helping us create a first of its kind fan experience.”

It goes without saying that Clark’s arrival in the WNBA has resulted in unprecedented interest in the league and Tegna’s willingness to not only expand its distribution of Fever games, but work with competitors to do so, speaks to that. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how Tegna — and other media companies — continue to adjust their plans to continue to meet the sudden consumer demand.

[Tegna]