Through these remarks, Sparks’ Managing Partner and Governor Eric Holoman justified the $150 million that the team is set to spend on a new practice facility for its players. This investment, which is the largest to date in the history of women’s sports for a single team, comes only a year after it was announced that the league reportedly lost $40 million. However, thanks to the Caitlin Clark effect and the increase in the game’s popularity, making such an investment holds merit.
‘No Cap Space WBB’ host Andrew Haubner recently touched base on the Sparks’ new practice facility. According to him, the star power of women’s basketball players has increased to a point that, now, they are “brands unto themselves in ways that I think even NBA and male professional athletes are not.” From Sabrina Ionescu appearing at the Paris Fashion Week and Angel Reese appearing on the cover of Vogue, to the athletes appearing in music videos, the players’ presence has increased over the last few years. In light of this, the ‘No Cap Space WBB’ host agrees that progress needs to be invested in.
“And if you want to make the argument that you want to make these women into stars, uh, the biggest thing that was stopping them was ‘I don’t want to have to make my year-round facility at El Camino College’. And now, you have a place just off El Segundo Beach that is now a state-of-the-art facility,” said Haubner.
Our brand new, state-of-the-art sports performance center is coming soon
we will break ground on a $78 million, 108,000 square foot world-class training complex this summer and open before the 2027 WNBA season.
learn more: https://t.co/zSA4aow9fr pic.twitter.com/Tzm9xkYAR4
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) January 16, 2025
While the WNBA benefitted as a whole, the Fever, on an individual level, saw their attendance number increase by nearly 320% to a league-leading average of more than 17,000 per game. Additionally, the team has transformed with the additions of the past two WNBA Rookies of the Year, Clark (2024) and Aliyah Boston (2023). Even without players like Clark and Sophie Cunningham to lead them, the Fever made it to the semi-finals this year and continues to maintain high viewership and attendance numbers. In light of this, the investment for the three-story, 108,000-square-foot facility seems worthwhile.
The decision to build the new training complex, of course, is not solely a function of Clark’s arrival last year to the team, but the timing does provide another indicator of how transformative she has been to the Fever—and the league overall—over the past nine months.
The Indiana Fever sports performance center is set to open before the 2027 WNBA season. It will reportedly feature two full-size courts, strength and conditioning facilities, a range of additional recovery and wellness rooms, some of which will contain infrared light therapy and hydrotherapy pools, etc. If that wasn’t all, the center will also have a podcast and content production studio space.
While the Los Angeles Sparks might be spending the most on a new training facility, they are not the only team to do so. On the list is the Indiana Fever as well.
Back in January, it was announced that the Fever front office plans to develop a $78 million training center in downtown Indianapolis.
Do you agree that the Caitlin Clark effect is leading to the new practice facilities? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.