One thing nearly certain in Baltimore is that basketball will be played at a high level.
The level of play in the women’s game is rising to another level on May 28 and Sept. 7, as the Washington Mystics will play two games against Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.
Last year, Fever-Mystics games were held at Capital One Arena instead of the Mystics’ usual CareFirst Arena home, but Capital One Arena is undergoing renovations this summer. The May 28 matchup will be at 7:30 p.m. and the September game is set for 3 p.m. They will be the first two WNBA games ever played in Baltimore.
The primary TV analyst for the Fever since 2000, Debbie Antonelli has seen the passion that Clark’s fan base brings on a nightly basis. The Fever averaged 17,036 fans per home game in 2024, up from 4,607 the year before. The Fever’s total home attendance of 340,715 shattered the previous league record.
Antonelli sees president of basketball and business operations Kelly Krauskopf and general manager Amber Cox as two visionaries who want to make the Fever a global brand.
“There’s a Caitlin Clark effect there … which I call Clark economics because we’ve seen [an] incredible spike in ratings, attendance and all that driven by this rookie class headlined by Caitlin,” Antonelli said.
Clark was taken No. 1 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft following a historic career at Iowa in which she became the all-time leading scorer in Division I hoops for men or women (3,951 points). She played in packed arenas everywhere she went by the time she was a senior in 2023-24, and that has continued in the WNBA.
Now, the show comes to Baltimore.
“We have to be prepared for the economic opportunities and the creative inventory that can come with advancing our game,” Antonelli said. “And putting the game in places where people love hoops is as important as having enough infrastructure to me because that drives and fuels the passion of fans.”
Local coaches such as McDonogh girls’ basketball’s Brad Rees love that young players in the area have the opportunity to see the Fever and Mystics in action. He has seen his fair share of stars come through Owings Mills — Jayla Oden (Penn State), Ava McKennie (Maryland) and Tatum Greene (Boston College), just to name a few — but this is new.
“It would be an amazing opportunity for the young players here in Baltimore, which is such a hotbed for the girls’ basketball game, to see some of the players in person that are changing the sport,” Rees said. “I have to believe that it would be very popular and of course inspirational for the young players and their families to see the best of the best.”
A number of current and former WNBA players are from the Baltimore area. The two most notable are Chicago Sky star Angel Reese and Angel McCoughtry, who last played in the league in 2022. Both are Saint Frances graduates.
Other Baltimore-area stars include former Michigan State standout Nia Clouden (Saint Frances) and former Maryland star Brionna Jones (Aberdeen High). Clouden is a free-agent guard, while Jones signed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Dream during the offseason.
“Baltimore has always had a lot of talent on the men’s and women’s side,” McCoughtry said. “It’s the DMV area. We’re not far from D.C., we’re not far from Philly, we’re not far from Virginia — just that whole combined area has so much talent.”
Baltimore sports radio personality and WNBA fan Reeta Hubbard is excited that the closest team to Baltimore is making an appearance but has a suggestion.
“I love the idea of seeing D.C. teams reaching out to the Baltimore market,” Hubbard said. “There’s a great basketball community here and to have them showcase one of their popular stars in Clark is amazing. Where they miss the mark is, why not play the Chicago Sky here? Angel Reese is from here, why not showcase her in front of her home crowd? And I get why, because everyone would be Sky fans that day. But in the end, it’s about marketing the product the best way you can.”
CFG Bank Arena hosted the CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament each year from 2022-2025 and the 2024 Hall of Fame Series (Virginia-Villanova and Virginia Tech-Penn State) last November.
New life was breathed into the 60-plus-year-old arena with a $250 million renovation completed in 2023. The focus for the renovated arena is concerts and one-off sporting events. The facility is operated by Oak View Group and seats more than 14,000 for concerts.
Hubbard hopes that one day a WNBA team calls Baltimore home.
“I think that a WNBA team could thrive here, as long as Philadelphia doesn’t get one,” Hubbard said. “Too often, Baltimore gets caught in the middle, with being the forgotten son to cities like D.C. and Philly. But I definitely believe people would support it. Just look at the CIAA tournament. I’d love to see a women’s basketball tournament here just to get the ball rolling.”
Update: The Indiana Fever announced on May 26 that Caitlin Clark will miss a minimum of two weeks with a left quad strain, meaning she’ll miss the May 28 game in Baltimore.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Indiana Fever
Originally published April 16, 2025