Fever's Caitlin Clark vs. Sky's Angel Reese tip off new WNBA Rivals Week

The Associated Press

· Posted: Apr 11, 2025 11:07 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever volition look Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky successful premier clip to extremity disconnected the inaugural WNBA Rivals Week successful August.

Other games volition see 2 betwixt New York and Minnesota successful a WNBA Finals rematch; a matchup of projected No. 1 draught prime Paige Bueckers and Dallas against Clark's Fever; and Atlanta's Brittney Griner facing her aged Phoenix squad.

The week volition beryllium sponsored by Ally Financial, a caller spouse for the league this season.

"You tin person a large partnership, but you besides person to person large activation," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said successful a Zoom interview. "There's going to beryllium a afloat slate of games that week and that's going to beryllium a chill portion of the activation."

Rivalry week games volition beryllium broadcast connected a assortment of networks, starting with the prime-time crippled betwixt the Fever and Sky connected CBS connected Aug. 9.

"The timing of that week is critical, due to the fact that successful August you commencement to truly marque that playoff push," Engelbert said. "So it would beryllium large to person those matchups during that play to thrust that playoff propulsion into September and crown a champion successful October."

The NBA has had a Rivals Week for 3 years.

Rivalries tin turn the sport

Engelbert has mentioned successful the past however important rivalries tin beryllium to turn the sport. The league started the Commissioner's Cup successful 2021 and that in-season tourney has helped spawn rivalries betwixt New York and Las Vegas arsenic good arsenic the Liberty and Lynx implicit the past fewer seasons.

"To person 2 teams who are conscionable competing highly hard each azygous clip they lucifer up and each clip you ticker is large basketball," Bueckers said. "So I deliberation it was a cleanable accidental to commencement that — there's truthful galore large rivalries successful the league.

This isn't Ally's archetypal foray into women's basketball. It was 1 of the inaugural partners with the 3-on-3 Unrivaled league that finished its archetypal play past month. The conversations with the WNBA started years earlier Unrivaled came into existence.

"What Cathy and her squad person done with the league, the taste currency of the players, the media connectivity, the full ecosystem, is conscionable phenomenal," said Andrea Brimmer, Ally Financial's main selling officer. "To maine it's benignant of the crown jewel of what's happening successful the women's sports space."

Ally has made it a ngo to springiness adjacent advertizing dollars to men's and women's sports.

"This precise intentional absorption connected women's sports has been thing that person been not lone words but deeds down it," Brimmer said. "The quality to travel connected arsenic the caller sponsor of the WNBA for america is adding different jewel to the family."

Ally besides signed Bueckers, the UConn star, to an endorsement deal. The institution already has deals with WNBA players Breanna Stewart and Sydney Colson.

"Partnering with Ally is astir much than conscionable banking — it's astir radical to marque their wealth enactment smarter," Bueckers said. "As an athlete, I've learned that occurrence isn't conscionable astir the crippled you play, but the accidental and resources you get entree to."

Brimmer said Bueckers isn't conscionable a marque ambassador, she's besides an online customer.

"She uses the merchandise and she's got a batch of passionateness astir fiscal acquisition and fiscal literacy," Brimmer said.