It’s not easy to get a physical ticket to a sporting event these days, but those who attend the WNBA Draft on Monday in Brooklyn, N.Y., will walk away with a souvenir in their hand.
That’s because the WNBA has decided all tickets will be hard tickets for the event.
Sources tell cllct the reason for this is two-fold. One, the WNBA is very well aware of the collectibility surrounding Caitlin Clark, who will be the first overall pick taken by the Indiana Fever. Second, there has been some concern about the secondary market for the event, and physical tickets were actually determined to be more secure in this case.
The draft, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, is sold out. It’s not a big venue. The maximum audience is 2,983.
So far, “Caitlinsanity” has been translating from her days at the University of Iowa, where her Hawkeyes lost the title game to South Carolina in the most-watched women’s final ever.
Data from StubHub reflects that Fever tickets are being bought 13 times faster than they were at this time last year, with the price up 70 percent.
Those hoping to get hard tickets to Clark’s games with the Fever appear to be out of luck. A Fever spokesman told cllct that tickets will all be digital for the 2024 season.
Her WNBA regular season debut will be May 14 against the Connecticut Sun at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Sun told cllct that tickets for that game will be digital, but fans can come to the box office and get a physical ticket for an added fee.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectible market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.