DES MOINES, Iowa — TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) and the Indiana Fever have announced that 11 additional markets will join WTHR, TEGNA’s Indianapolis NBC affiliate, to create an unprecedented 12-market footprint to air 16 Indiana Fever games for free over the air in 2024.
With this expanded footprint, 4.6 million homes will have the opportunity to watch #1 overall draft pick Caitlin Clark, 2023 #1 overall pick and WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston, and the exciting Fever roster as they make a push to return to the playoffs.
Notably, TEGNA worked with the WNBA to add coverage of these games in Iowa, with TEGNA’s WOI in Des Moines and WQAD in Davenport (Quad Cities) joining the roster of stations that will broadcast games.
Games will also air on TEGNA’s WHAS in Louisville, as well as stations owned by Gray Television, Sinclair, Nexstar Media Group, Inc., Coastal Television Broadcasting Group, and Weigel Broadcasting Co.
“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,” said Rick Fuson, Pacers Sports and Entertainment chief executive officer.
“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,” said Brad Ramsey, senior vice president, media operations, TEGNA. “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.”
Sandy Breland, chief operating officer of Gray Television, added, “This is a key moment for women’s sports and live sports on broadcast television. Continuing Gray’s commitment to live local sports, Gray is beyond excited to bring the Fever free, over the air to local viewers in Cincinnati, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Lexington and South Bend.”
The action-packed Fever regular season schedule tips off on Tuesday, May 14 when the team travels to Connecticut to take on the Connecticut Sun before returning to Indianapolis for their home opener against the New York Liberty on May 16. Highlight matchups include two encounters with the defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces, scheduled for May 25 and September 11.
The 17 games available to viewers are:
- Thurs., May 16 vs. New York Liberty, 6 p.m. CT
- Wed., May 22 @ Seattle Storm, 9 p.m. CT
- Sat., May 25 @ Las Vegas Aces, 8 p.m. CT
- Thurs., May 30 vs. Seattle Storm, 6 p.m. CT
- Sun., June 2 @ New York Liberty, 6 p.m. CT
- Mon., June 10 @ Connecticut Sun, 6 p.m. CT
- Thurs., June 13 vs. Atlanta Dream, 6 p.m. CT
- Sun., June 23 @ Chicago Sky, 5 p.m. CT
- Thurs., June 27 @ Seattle Storm, 9 p.m. CT
- Wed., July 10 vs. Washington Mystics, 11 a.m. CT
- Mon., Aug. 26 @ Atlanta Dream, 6:30 p.m. CT
- Wed., Sept. 4 vs. Los Angeles Sparks, 6 p.m. CT
- Sun., Sept. 8 vs. Atlanta Dream, 3 p.m. CT
- Wed., Sept. 11 vs. Las Vegas Aces, 6 p.m. CT
- Sun., Sept. 15 vs. Dallas Wings, 2 p.m. CT
- Thurs., Sept. 19 @ Washington Mystics, 6 p.m. CT
NOTE: The Sat., June 1 game against the Chicago Sky will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and therefore unavailable on local TV markets.