Indiana Fever getting charter flight to Connecticut as part of WNBA's new $25M program
Indiana Fever getting charter flight to Connecticut as part of WNBA's new $25M program
The Caitlin Clark Era in the WNBA begins with a significant moment — the launch of charter flights through Delta Air Lines. "This is just a really, really good moment for us, for our league."
After Indiana Fever practice on Monday, the team will board a flight bound for Connecticut.
However, they won’t have to arrive at the airport more than two hours before their departure time. They won’t have to check dozens of bags. They won’t have to go through TSA PreCheck, think about player security and be concerned with a possible delay for their connecting flight — likely in Atlanta or Baltimore, to then go up to Connecticut.
Most importantly, this one will be both private and direct.
The WNBA made a league-wide charter program official last Thursday, which will be phased in during the 2024 regular season — and run by Delta Air Lines, the same service the majority of NBA utilize.
It is projected to cost the WNBA $25 million per year for the next two years, so about $2 million per team.
“We are thrilled to announce the launch of a full charter program as soon as practical for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, a testament to the continued growth of the WNBA,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in the announcement. “We have been hard at work to transform the business and build a sustainable economic model to support charter flights for the long term. While we still have a lot of work to do to continue to execute our strategic plan, we feel confident that the time is now to institute a full charter program to demonstrate our commitment to leading with a player-first agenda.”
The flight to Connecticut is the most difficult in the league. Teams fly into Hartford, Providence and even Boston. I know because I’ve done it several times. And good luck rebooking a travel party of about 30 if a flight is delayed or canceled.
And so the Indiana Fever will be the first to try the new charter service ahead of playing the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2/Disney+) in the league’s first game of the season.
The league office informed the Fever of the news, per league sources, around 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday before their lone preseason home game, a win over the Atlanta Dream.
“It’s change in a great way,” said Fever head coach Christie Sides. “It is incredible. … They deserve this and it changes everything. It changes their rest, it changes their rehab.”
Tuesday is opening night in the WNBA — showcased on ESPN2 — so of course they want to feature the newest, most exciting addition that has already taken the league by storm.
Top overall draft pick Caitlin Clark emerged as a phenom in women’s basketball over two years ago and now is, no exaggeration, Taylor Swift-light in terms of interest level, demand to see her live and how it spans across genders and age brackets.
She’s a hooper and fans of all ages want to watch.
Their exhibition game in Dallas sold out (after they previously never sold tickets to their preseason games). Teams like the Las Vegas Aces, LA Sparks, Washington Mystics moved their home game against the Fever to the NBA arena to host significantly more fans.
One month ago, StubHub said that Fever ticket sales on their site were up more than 13x compared to last season, and searches on their website jumped 15x when she announced her plans to enter the draft.”
And when the Fever held single-game ticket sales over a 10-day stretch, they were gone in minutes.
The biggest adjustment Clark had to consider in declaring for the WNBA Draft after four years at the University of Iowa was travel.
Going into this season, the league budgeted about $4 million to use on charter flights only when necessary, like back-to-backs in a condensed Olympic year as well as select playoff games.
On the team’s first road trip of the season, to Dallas 10 days ago, Clark got her first taste of WNBA travel. The team had several members of security around her — and still, there were several cameras recording as they walked through Dallas baggage claim.
“I didn't have a ton of problems traveling throughout the last time we went to Dallas,” she said. “But I think you just have to be aware of where you are and we travel with security, which is nice. And it's just different.
“It'll make recovery easier, make travel easier. It just makes life a lot easier for a lot of people. But also, it's just something that a lot of people have deserved for years and years now. So I'm just very fortunate to come to this league and have that opportunity the first year I'm here.”
Clark isn’t just helping to lift the league, she’s also saying all the right things. She’s remarkably mature and polished for a 22 year old.
Sides recalled a time years ago, while an assistant for the Chicago Sky, when they had a flight delayed three times and then canceled for the night.
“We slept in the airport for a 6 am flight the next morning,” she said. “That was a fun one, and then played the next day.”
Use of charter flights eliminates that — and makes teams significantly more comfortable in terms of their safety because they are private flights.
The underrated factor in all of it is time saved. They won’t have to stay overnight in cities, then fly out in the morning. Instead of having a six-hour trip home from Connecticut, for instance, departing at 5 a.m. and going through Charlotte, they can board a two-hour flight.
“That's exactly it,” affirmed second-year center Aliyah Boston, last year’s No. 1 pick. “You play your game, you get back on that plane and you get to sleep in your own bed. That's really what we've been used to in college. So coming here and making that change soon is gonna be great for us.”
The one negative change that was discussed amongst themselves in the locker room: the loss of airline miles.
“I don’t know, I guess I got to book some extra flights,” Boston joked. The trade-off is easy.
Back in Feb. 2022, the WNBA raised $75 million to deploy in marketing, digital, globalization and fan engagement efforts to grow the league. Owners Herb and Steve Simon participated in that investment round.
Opening night will become the first live U.S. sporting event to also air on Disney Plus, exposing the league to a whole new audience. Thanks to an All-Star cast of new players entering the league, and especially Clark, the WNBA is on the rise and the players are beginning to benefit.
“Shout-out to the league for getting it done and I hope we continue to grow,” said Katie Lou Samuelson. “I can't wait however many years down the line and we can be the ones that are like, back when we played, we flew commercial flights. (smiles)
“So this is just a really, really good moment for us, for our league.”
