The Indiana Fever will be the most-televised team in the WNBA this season, which comes as the team is expected to draft Iowa star Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 pick during the 2024 WNBA Draft.

A total of 36 of the team’s 40 games will be featured nationally – up from just one last year.

The reigning WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces will be on national television 35 times, while the runner-up New York Liberty will be featured 31 times. 

With Clark entering the league, it’s expected that a large portion of her following will join her. The NCAA tournament championship between Iowa and South Carolina was the most-watched women’s basketball game ever with 18.9 million average viewers, and it outdrew the men’s championship for the first time. 

In total, Iowa had a hand in a number of record-breaking viewerships across the NCAA tournament, including the two most-watched games prior to the championship.

The announcement comes as teams around the league have been preemptively using Clark as a way to market to fans. The Phoenix Mercury advertised their June 30 matchup against Indiana as "The GOAT vs. The Rook," while the Minnesota Lynx are set to retire Maya Moore's jersey the same night they face Indiana in August. 

Resale tickets for some Fever home games are already 50x their original price, while other teams are seeing a bump for their games when Clark comes to town.

On Wednesday, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke about Clark's impact on the league as it continues to grow. She also shouted out Cameron Brink and Kamilla Cardoso in what she described as a "really strong rookie class."

"I just think [Clark's] style of play resonates with the big basketball fan, the big game fan," she said. "Because with sports you need household names, rivalries and games of consequence. Obviously March Madness had all of that, and we're hoping to replicate it."

In Indiana, Clark will team up with Aliyah Boston, with the duo hoping to help the Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. In Christie Sides’ first year coaching the team last season, they finished 13-27. 

In the past, the WNBA has notoriously struggled to capitalize on the star power of big-time college players. It's often been said that the best college players "disappear" when they first get to the league.

“The WNBA, I don't think, has done a great enough job of marketing their individual stars,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said during March Madness. 

South Carolina’s Dawn Staley has echoed his sentiments, saying, "We have to bridge the gap between college and the WNBA."

There is hope that this year’s rookie class – headlined by Clark – can begin to do so. 

"With the energy and excitement already generated by what we anticipate will be a star-studded rookie class, and on the heels of a 2023 season that featured one of the greatest MVP races in WNBA history and our most-watched regular season in over two decades," commissioner Cathy Engelbert said, "the WNBA's broadcast and streaming partners are offering a huge national platform that will showcase the league's superstars, rising stars, and rivalries."

The road to the College Cup begins this weekend, as the 2025 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament kicks off with a stacked first-round field on Friday.

The strength of the ACC again leads the charge with three of the 64-team bracket's four top seeds hailing from the conference.

Snagging the overall No. 1 seed is Stanford, with the Cardinal outlasting fellow NCAA top-seed Notre Dame in a penalty shootout to claim their first-ever ACC tournament title last weekend.

Joining the Cardinal and Fighting Irish in the remaining No. 1 spots are the ACC's Virginia Cavaliers and the SEC-leading Vanderbilt Commodores.

Meanwhile, the 2025 tournament's No. 2 seeds — Michigan State, TCU, Duke, and Georgetown — are gearing up to play spoiler, with other underdogs also lurking throughout the bracket.

Already eyeing future upsets are four-time national champions and No. 3-seed Florida State, No. 4-seed and Big Ten champion Washington, and undefeated mid-major dark horse Memphis, who enters the 2025 field as a No. 7 seed.

The ACC's on-pitch dominance also sees defending champion North Carolina in an unfamiliar position, entering the 2025 NCAA tournament unseeded after the 22-time title-winners finished seventh in the conference behind a 12-6 overall and 6-4 ACC season record.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA soccer tournament

The 2025 NCAA women's soccer tournament kicks off with 32 first-round matches across Friday and Saturday, all on ESPN+.

The action begins with unseeded Ohio State taking on No. 8-seed Georgia at 3 PM ET, live on ESPN+.

Two USWNT legends are seeing their legacies cemented, as the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced on Thursday that retired forwards Tobin Heath and Heather O'Reilly are first-ballot inductees as members of the Class of 2026.

Both Heath and O'Reilly retired as World Cup champions and Olympic medalists, winning their 2008 and 2012 Olympic golds as well as their 2015 World Cup title as teammates.

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The USWNT icons led all voting on the Hall of Fame's Player Ballot of 20 finalists, which only allots two to three athletes per annual class for induction.

O'Reilly snagged 47 of the 48-person selection committee's votes, with Heath earning 45 nods for inclusion.

Fellow former USWNT star Sam Mewis finished fifth on the ballot with 32 votes in her first year of eligibility, while longtime NWSL and USWNT player Amy Rodriguez came in seventh with 28 votes.

Longtime Seattle Reign defender Stephanie Cox — a 2008 Olympic gold medalist with the USWNT — also snagged votes, ranking 15th on the Class of 2026 Player Ballot.

Though they fell short of making the cut, a trio of former USWNT stars also earned votes on the 10-finalist Veteran Ballot, with longtime midfielder-turned-broadcaster Aly Wagner as well as legendary '99ers Tiffany Roberts and Lorrie Fair all snagging tallies.

The National Soccer Hall of Fame will induct Heath and O'Reilly as part of its six-person Class of 2026 in a ceremony at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on May 1st.

Orlando Pride captain and Brazil legend Marta is back in the spotlight, topping the 2025 shortlist for the second-annual FIFA Marta Award — the women's goal-of-the-year prize established in her honor in 2024.

The 39-year-old attacking midfielder took home the inaugural trophy at the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony last December, earning the title for a stellar long-range shot that helped lift Brazil over Jamaica 4-0 in a June 2024 friendly.

Marta's 2025 nomination, however, comes from an iconic goal in club play, with the FIFA Award spotlighting the Orlando game-winner against Kansas City in the 2024 NWSL semifinals — a goal that saw the Pride star force four Current players to the ground with her footwork.

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Marta has steep competition for this year's trophy, however, with 10 other goal nominees including a viral scorpion kick by former Tigres UANL star Lizbeth Ovalle, Seattle Reign defender Jordyn Bugg's long-range missile against the North Carolina Courage, forward Ally Sentnor's first-ever USWNT goal at the 2025 SheBelieves Cup, and more.

How to vote for the 2025 FIFA Marta Award

Holding 50% of the vote, fans can view and rank their top three goals of 2025 until voting closes on December 3rd.

Voting for the second-ever Marta Award winner is now open at FIFA.com.

South Carolina and USC are bringing fireworks to the 2025/26 NCAA basketball court this weekend, as the No. 2 Gamecocks take on the No. 8 Trojans in "The Real SC" showdown on Saturday.

Both standout programs enter the matchup undefeated in early-season play, with the Trojans touting a Top-10 win after narrowly edging out No. 10 NC State 69-68 last weekend.

"You don't know exactly what you have until you're put in these situations, which is why we schedule them," USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said about the upcoming clash. "And I think it's a chance for us to redefine our identity a little bit."

South Carolina's depth will likely test the new-look Trojans, as USC aims to solidify their identity with star JuJu Watkins sidelined with injury for the season.

That said, freshman Jazzy Davidson is giving the Trojans new life, with the No. 1 high school recruit co-leading the team in scoring with 17.5 points per game.

South Carolina, however, has seen early dividends from familiar faces, as sophomore Joyce Edwards leads the Gamecocks in scoring at 18.3 points per game, with high-profile transfer Ta'Niya Latson close behind with a 16.3 point average.

How to watch USC vs. South Carolina in the "The Real SC" NCAA game

No. 8 USC will welcome No. 2 South Carolina to LA's Crypto.com Arena for the inaugural "Real SC" game on Saturday.

The clash will tip off at 9 PM ET, with live coverage airing on FOX.