Seven Storylines from the Fever's 2025 Schedule

Sports stats



Indiana Fever

Seven Storylines from the Fever's 2025 Schedule

December 2, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Indiana Fever News Release


After a historic 2024 Indiana Fever season that culminated in a return to the playoffs, excitement is greater than ever for the Fever's 2025 campaign. While next season is still five months away, the WNBA gave Fever fans an early present on Monday when the league dropped the full 44-game schedule for the upcoming season.

The Fever turned heads across the country last season with their play on the court, with number-one pick Caitlin Clark setting numerous records on her way to winning Rookie of the Year honors and joining teammates Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell as All-Stars. With Indiana basketball legend Stephanie White returning home to take over the reins as Fever head coach this season, the Fever have aspirations of hanging more banners in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

There's still a lot that will happen between now and the start of next season - including an expansion draft, free agency, and the 2025 draft, not to mention the national television schedule announcement - but here are seven initial takeaways from the Fever's 2025 season.

1. Fever-Sky Rivalry Renewed for Season Opener

The Fever will open the 2025 season at home with a highly anticipated matchup. Indiana will host the Chicago Sky on Saturday, May 17 for a 1:00 PM matinee that is sure to get marquee billing.

The Fever and Sky had the league's two most compelling rookies last season in Clark and Chicago forward Angel Reese, both of whom had record-setting rookie seasons. Clark set a WNBA record for assists in a single season and also led the league in 3-pointers made. Reese, meanwhile, broke the league's rebounding record. Both were All-Stars and though Clark ultimately ran away with Rookie of the Year honors, Reese finished second in the voting.

On the court, the Fever and Sky played some memorable competitive games last season, with two of their four meetings decided by a single point. Indiana won three of the four meetings. With the two teams separated by just a few hours' drive, this feels like a natural rivalry that should continue for years to come.

The league would seem to agree. Not only do the Fever and Sky meet to open the season, Chicago is the only team that Indiana will face five times in the regular season. The Sky will make three visits to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, returning to Indianapolis on Saturday, Aug. 9 and Friday, Sept. 5. In fact, all five of the Fever and Sky's games will take place on the weekend, with Indiana set to visit Chicago on Saturday, June 7 and Saturday, July 26.

2. More Manageable Early Season Schedule

The Fever had a historically difficult schedule to open the 2024 season. Indiana played 11 games over the first 20 days of the season, including two back-to-back sets and a three-game West Coast trip. Over that stretch, they played eventual WNBA champions New York three times, had two games against eventual conference finalist Connecticut, and one game against 2022 and 2023 WNBA champs Las Vegas.

The young Fever predictably struggled against that onerous schedule, starting the year 2-9, but rallied to finish the year with a 20-20 record a secure a playoff berth.

The schedule makers were more reasonable with Indiana's early season schedule in 2025. The Fever's first 11 games are spaced out over a full month with no back-to-backs. Travel will also be lighter over the first month, as just four of Indiana's first 11 games are on the road, and all of those trips are to Eastern Conference cities.

In fact, the Fever don't play a single Western Conference team over the first month of the season. There are still some challenging games over that stretch, with two games against each of New York and Connecticut, but all four of those games will take place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

3. Expansion (and an Expanded Schedule)

For the first time since 2008, the WNBA will welcome a new franchise. The Golden State Valkyries will officially begin play in 2025 as the league's 13th franchise.

The Valkyries will start to form their inaugural roster later this week in Friday's expansion draft, so we don't yet know what players will represent Golden State next season, but it's no question that the growth of the WNBA is a big storyline for the league.

The Fever will visit Golden State for the first time on June 19 and return to the Bay Area for a second time on Aug. 31. The Valkyries will make just one trip to Gainbridge Fieldhouse this season, visiting Indiana on July 9.

In addition to adding a new franchise, the league also opted to expand the length of the season this year, increasing the schedule from 40 to 44 games. It is the second time in three years that the WNBA has added four games to the schedule, as they previously increased the season length from 36 to 40 games for the 2023 season.

Expansion will continue to be a storyline for the WNBA in the coming years. Two new franchises in Toronto and Portland are set to join the league for the 2026 season.

4. How Often Will We See (Insert Team)?

With the new 44-game schedule and now 13 teams in the league, the Fever will play three games against five teams, four games against six teams, and the aforementioned five games against Chicago.

Indiana will play each of the four remaining East teams (Atlanta, Connecticut, New York, and Chicago) as well as Dallas and Los Angeles four times.

The defending champion Liberty visit Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 24 and June 14, while the Fever visit Madison Square Garden twice in a six-day span in July, with games in New York on July 16 and 22.

The Sun - White's former team - will be in Indianapolis for games on May 30 and June 17. The Fever will play the Sun at TD Garden in Boston on July 15 and in Connecticut on Aug. 17.

The Dallas Wings won the lottery and will have the first overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, a distinction the Fever held in 2023 and 2024, when they drafted Boston and Clark. The Wings are set to visit Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 13 and Aug. 12, with Indiana heading to Dallas on June 27 and Aug. 1.

The Fever will play the remaining five teams (Golden State, Las Vegas, Minnesota, Phoenix, and Seattle) three times. Indiana will have just one home game against the Valkyries (July 9), Mercury (July 30), and Storm (Aug. 26). The Fever will host the Aces and Lynx twice, with Las Vegas visiting Indiana on July 3 and 24 and Minnesota coming to town on Aug. 22 and Sept. 9 (the final day of the regular season).

5. Commissioner's Cup Adds Early-Season Intrigue

The Fever haven't been much of a factor in past seasons in the Commissioner's Cup, an in-season competition the WNBA first introduced in 2020, but that could change this year.

The league instituted changes to the Commissioner's Cup format last season designed to make the competition easier for fans to follow. All games played over a two-week period in early June will count towards the Commissioner's Cup standings, with each team playing one game against each of its conference foes.

This year, the Fever's five games between June 3 and 17 will be Commissioner's Cup games. Indiana seemingly got a favorable draw this year, with three of their five Commissioner's Cup games at home, including matchups against the top two East teams last season in the Liberty and Sun.

Indiana opens Commissioner's Cup play against Washington on June 3, visits Chicago four days later and Atlanta on June 10, then hosts New York on June 14 and Connecticut three days after that.

The two teams from each conference with the best record in Commissioner's Cup play will face off in a championship game later in the season, where they will compete for a prize pool and the Commissioner's Cup trophy.

This year, it should be an early test to see how a Fever team with aspirations of a deep playoff run stacks up against the competition.

6. WNBA All-Star is Coming to Indy

Indianapolis will once again be the center of the basketball universe this July, when Gainbridge Fieldhouse hosts WNBA All-Star 2025. It will be the first time that the Circle City has hosted the WNBA's signature weekend.

The 21st All-Star Game in WNBA history will be held on Saturday, July 19, with a 3-point and skills competition the day before. It will be the second All-Star Weekend the city hosts in a 16-month span, as Indianapolis also hosted NBA All-Star 2024 in February.

Sign Up for More Information on WNBA All-Star 2025 >>

"We are in the middle of a pivotal, transformational moment in the history of the WNBA and women's basketball, and we are thrilled Indiana will be the center of it all with the game's biggest stars on display during next season's All-Star Game," Mel Raines, CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, said about Indianapolis hosting the event. "Leaders across our community are going to do what we do best: welcome fans from around the nation and the globe to Indiana, raise the bar for future host cities, and leave a lasting legacy for our city and state."

As the city prepares to host, the Fever will be on the road the week before All-Star, visit Dallas on July 15 and New York the next night.

The Fever figure to have plenty of representation over the course of the weekend. Boston and Mitchell both have been named All-Stars each of the past two seasons, while Clark joined them last year as a rookie.

7. Home-Heavy Start, Road-Heavy Close to Regular Season

No schedule is perfectly balanced, and the Fever's 2025 slate skews more home-heavy in the first half of the year. Indiana will host 13 of its first 21 regular season games, culminating in a five-game homestand from July 3-13. That homestand carries through the 4th of July holiday weekend, and is bookended by signature matchups with the Aces and the Wings, as well as games against the Sparks (July 5), Valkyries (July 9), and Dream (July 11).

That also means that 14 of the Fever's final 23 games will be on the road, including five of their final eight contests. Indiana has three road trips of three games or more on the schedule, all of which involve travel out West. They head to Golden State, Las Vegas, and Seattle from June 19-24, have stops in Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Phoenix from Aug. 1-7, and travel to Los Angeles, Golden State, and Phoenix from Aug. 29 - Sept. 2. The Fever also play three straight road games from July 15-22, but that is actually two separate road trips sandwiched around WNBA All-Star.

Aside from their five-game homestand in July, the Fever have just one other homestand of longer than two games. That is a three-game homestand where they will host Chicago on Aug. 9, Dallas on Aug. 12, and Washington on Aug. 15.

Though they will spend more time on the road in the final weeks of the regular season, the Fever will play their last regular season game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Indiana is set to host the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday, Sept. 9 for Fan Appreciation Night. If all goes right, it will be one last tune-up before a deep playoff run.

Check out the Indiana Fever Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Women's National Basketball Association message board...

Women's National Basketball Association Stories from December 2, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central