In a recent podcast appearance talking to Theo Von, Sophie Cunningham explained how much the Indiana Fever's status has changed in recent years.
The Indiana Fever have been the WNBA's most-watched franchise since they drafted Caitlin Clark. Their fame went to another level this season, even as Sophie Cunningham emerged as one of the league's most popular figures. The team wasn't able to go deep in the playoffs, but they remain quite loved.
This wasn't always the case. The Fever won a championship in 2012 and were decently successful in the Tamika Catchings era, but they struggled a lot after 2016. The two years before drafting Clark were arguably the franchise's worst, and Cunningham recently noted the change she herself has witnessed.
Cunningham was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in 2019 and has been in the WNBA since. The 30-year-old has been in Indiana since 2025, although there has been a lot of speculation on whether she will remain with the team moving forward.
In any case, she spoke on a recent podcast about how much things have changed for the franchise since the arrival of Caitlin Clark and the other superstars from her draft class.
"When I got drafted, Indiana, I think they only had like 200 fans," Cunningham said. "Like, it was a nap town. People went there to catch up on sleep. You played a game and you wanted to get out. Now, that's the place you want to play. That's like people's Super Bowl… Now, every arena's like that."
The 2024 WNBA draft changed a lot of things around the league. Their popularity is now at an all-time high, especially the Fever. While they still do have a lot of growing to do, the past couple of years have been immense for women's basketball overall.
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