The United Center. This building, ladies and gentlemen……this is where legends are born. This is where legends get their start, leave their mark, and become the household names that we all know and love today. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about MJ, Pippen, Rodman, or even Toews and Kane from the Blackhawks; the ‘Madhouse on Madison’ is sacred ground for folks in Chicago.

It’s an amazing place! And now, it looks like a new name will be descending upon the hallowed halls of the United Center. It looks like a new face will make her presence known in the ‘Windy City,’ as she travels to the home of the Bulls for the first time in her career. The only problem? She’s not a part of the home team.

This individual, ladies and gentlemen…..is the ICON, Caitlin Clark.

venue and date change 🚨

our regular season games against the Chicago Sky are moving to United Center. the game originally scheduled for July 26 will now be played on July 27.

learn more: https://t.co/AR7IwqGdpf pic.twitter.com/5KpRXP31XR

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) February 28, 2025

Caitlin Clark, for those of you who have been living under a rock, was the #1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She was a legend in college for the Iowa Hawkeyes, who transcended the game of women’s basketball during her time in the NCAA. Then, she continued her dazzling play on the court with the Fever, by giving the world a Rookie of the Year level performance consisting of;

19.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 8.4 APG, 41.7 FG%

She’s elite, and someone who INSTANTLY became the face of the league upon arrival. She’s the “needle mover” in the WNBA, who has brought more eyeballs to the sport than anyone else in the history of the league. In her ONE YEAR with the Fever, games she participated in;
-Averaged TWICE as many fans as non-Fever games (16,084)
-Set the record for the LARGEST CROWD in WNBA History (Fever vs. Mystics – 20,711)
-Averaged 1.178 million viewers on TV, which was nearly three-times higher than the average WNBA game

This woman’s popularity is on another level. And now, after a WILDLY-SUCCESSFUL rookie campaign…..it looks like her footprint in the league is continuing to grow. It looks like the buzz has not subsided for the former Hawkeye, with the league deciding to move the Fever’s games in Chicago next season from the Wintrust Arena (10,387 capacity), to the much LARGER United Center (20,917 capacity).

That, my friends……is HUGE! There is NO WAY that you can sit there and say that Caitlin Clark’s influence on the game of women’s basketball isn’t a “good thing,” or anything like that. This woman’s popularity is LITERALLY forcing opposing teams to move their home games to much larger venues, to help house the fans that want to see her play. She is good for the game, and the fact that the rest of the league hasn’t seen that yet is WILD if you ask me.

Now sure, you can say that part of this change is because of the “rivalry” between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, that stems from their time in college. That would make sense. That would be a fair argument. But on the flip-side of that coin…..would Angel Reese be in this same spot, without Caitlin Clark? Can Angel Reese pull the same numbers that Caitlin Clark does, without the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer standing across from her?

The answer? Absolutely NOT! The Chicago Sky by themselves couldn’t even SNIFF 10,000 in attendance last season. With an average of only 8,757 fans per game in 2024, this 13-27 stinker of a franchise would have no reason to play at the United Center. They would have no reason to stand where the GOAT stood, without the help of the biggest star in basketball today.

Simply put; Caitlin Clark is a living legend, who did the unthinkable. Her stardom SINGLE-HANDEDLY made a team rethink their venue.

It’s a crazy thing to think about. But in the end, as always…..what do I know? I’m just a guy from the Midwest, with a beer and a laptop, trying to make sense of this world.