The Caitlin Clark Effect is now extending to the Fever’s plans to develop a $78 million training center in downtown Indianapolis. 

The forthcoming Indiana Fever Sports Performance Center, slated to open before the 2027 WNBA season, will feature two full-size courts, strength and conditioning facilities, a range of additional recovery and wellness rooms including those with infrared light therapy and hydrotherapy pools, and even podcast and content production studio space. Fever owner Pacers Sports & Entertainment will privately fund the development of the three-story, 108,000-square-foot facility. 

The decision to build the new training complex, of course, is not solely a function of Clark’s arrival last year to the team, but the timing does provide another indicator of how transformative she has been to the Fever—and the league overall—over the past nine months.

With the former Iowa superstar in the fold, nearly all of Indiana’s games were nationally televised, fueling the league’s most-watched regular season. Attendance across the WNBA rose 47%, and the Fever specifically increased by nearly 320% to a league-leading average of more than 17,000 per game. 

Now, the Fever are poised to have a training facility commensurate with that rising stature and impact. The facility will be located on the site of the former Marion County Jail. The Fever have been practicing in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the arena they share with the NBA’s Pacers.

“As we look to the future, the focus of creating a first-class player experience designed exclusively for women athletes will set us apart,” said Fever president of basketball and business operations Kelly Krauskopf.

Bigger Development Push

The Fever are hardly alone across the WNBA in developing or seeking better training facilities. 

Long a pain point within the league as it continues its accelerating growth trajectory, other franchises that have made similar moves to create purpose-built practice complexes in the last two years include the Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, and Seattle Storm—while the Chicago Sky have one under construction and scheduled to open late this year, and the defending league champion New York Liberty are pursuing one as well. Each project has exceeded $35 million in cost, with the Las Vegas facility nearly three times as expensive. 

In addition to their training benefits, these hubs are also widely seen as a critical tool in player recruitment and engagement, with teams such as the Sky losing out on multiple talent opportunities because of what they’ve had to offer for a practice facility.

LIV Golf is set to head into its 2025 season with a new media-rights deal and a replacement for its controversial leader, Greg Norman.

The league made two key formal announcements this week as it gears up for its season opener in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 6–8.

Fox Sports has signed a multiyear media-rights deal to become LIV’s sole U.S. broadcast partner, following the past two seasons with The CW. Airing on the main Fox network will give LIV its best TV exposure yet. Some rounds will also air on the cable channels FS1, FS2, and even Fox Business Network.

LIV’s recent schedule shift was likely made in accordance with the crowded sports slate on Fox, which is paying an undisclosed rights fee. LIV’s season will end in late August—earlier than it has in the past three seasons—and for the first time on the same weekend as the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship. 

Fox has a heavy dose of college football and NFL broadcasts on Saturdays and Sundays in the fall, which would have likely reduced LIV’s placement on its networks.

Shift at the Top

LIV has also announced the hire of Scott O’Neil as its new CEO, replacing Norman, who is handing off the day-to-day management duties he had as CEO and commissioner, but he will remain involved with LIV.

Norman took a mostly adversarial approach toward the PGA Tour since LIV’s launch in 2022, so finding a new leader could smooth things out between the two tours, as LIV’s financial backers at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia continue to work on a deal with the PGA Tour to unify men’s professional golf.

O’Neil has a deep sports history, and he was previously the CEO of 76ers and Devils parent company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. His relationships from that job should be valuable for LIV. For example, David Blitzer is a co-owner alongside Tiger Woods of Jupiter Links Golf Club, one of six teams in TGL, the new indoor golf league that launched this month and has backing from the PGA Tour. 

Trump’s Impact on Golf

The state of the PIF–PGA Tour negotiations could speed up after President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday.

LIV will once again play at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in South Florida in April, and Trump has previously said he could get a PIF–PGA Tour deal done “in the better part of 15 minutes.”

The Department of Justice is also expected to be more merger-friendly under Trump’s administration, which would be a positive sign for the tours.

Jimmy Butler is expected to return from a seven-game suspension when the Heat host the Nuggets on Friday. But the uncertainty around his future in Miami remains.

The six-time All-Star, who has requested a trade from the Heat, reiterated to team president Pat Riley last week that he wants to be traded, according to a report by ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania. Multiple reports have confirmed that Phoenix is Butler’s desired destination.

The Suns—who made a minor trade Wednesday by acquiring Nick Richards from the Hornets in exchange for Josh Okogie—still face the same dilemma: They must find an acceptable deal involving Bradley Beal, who has a no-trade clause. Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told The Athletic on Tuesday that “nothing is brewing” between the Heat and Suns involving Beal.

NBA insider Chris Haynes reported last week that some teams, particularly the Grizzlies, have been told to steer clear of trading for Butler. The Heat star can opt out of his contract this offseason to become a free agent, so any team that acquires Butler without the assurance he will re-sign is in danger of him turning into a half-season rental.

However, The Athletic reported Tuesday the Bucks have not been given the same guidance as Memphis. Milwaukee is in a similar position as the Suns since they are second-apron violators and have two stars—Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard—who would likely not be involved in a deal. The trade offer would have to revolve around their third star, Khris Middleton, who is in the second season of a three-year, $93 million deal with a player option next season.

Unlike Beal, Middleton does not have a no-trade clause, which makes the deal much easier to facilitate, should the Heat be interested. In order to match Butler’s $48.8 million salary this year, Milwaukee will likely need to include former Sixth Man of the Year Bobby Portis Jr. ($12.6 million) or Pat Connaughton ($9.4 million).