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Fever focus on safety as Clark flying commercial

Caitlin Clark's popularity and last spring's airport run-in involving Brittney Griner have prompted the Fever to put a premium on safety with the team flying commercial air rather than using charter flights for financial reasons.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- WNBA No. 1 draft pick Caitlin Clark is about to take the first of many trips with the Indiana Fever, as they play their first preseason game Friday in Dallas. Unlike in college, where programs such as Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes typically used charter flights, travel in the WNBA is still mainly via commercial air for financial reasons.

However, the growing visibility of the league has made security, including going through airports, a bigger concern. Wednesday at the Fever's media day at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indiana general manager Lin Dunn, Clark and other Fever players spoke about security.

"The Fever organization has done a really good job getting out ahead of things," Clark said. "There's gonna be a lot of security traveling with us. There will be certain plans of how we're going to navigate going through airports and things like that. It's not just for us; it's for everybody in the WNBA. Everybody is dealing with the same thing.

"The Fever organization has a really great plan in place to keep everybody safe and keep things moving along as we're traveling. The popularity of our league is continuing to grow ... that's a positive thing, too; you want people to be excited about our game."

Few players, though, are as recognizable as Clark, who became Division I's career scoring leader and went to two Final Fours at Iowa. Dunn said the Pacers/Fever organization took note of the security measures used at Iowa for Clark.

"We're going to take all the precautions we can that not only is she safe but ... that we're all safe," Dunn said. "I'm appreciative of Pacers Sports and Entertainment because they saw what took place at Iowa, and they've taken the measures that we needed to take to make sure everybody's safe and secure. I'm optimistic, and I feel good about it.

"We've seen more visibility with the college game ... the surge of interest. We're breaking all kinds of records with TV viewership, so that has to make us more aware of our players' safety. We're all charged with making sure that we are prepared. The league and each individual franchise have to be proactive when it comes to the safety and security of our players."

Last season, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner returned to the WNBA after being imprisoned in Russia for most of 2022. Griner was approved for charter flights for security reasons, but she was traveling commercially with her team last June when she was confronted by a YouTube provocateur who yelled at her in the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

That incident prompted more discussion about charters in the WNBA. Cost concerns have meant the WNBA has always primarily used commercial airlines. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said that the league as a whole cannot afford charter flights and that allowing some of the 12 teams -- who can afford it -- to do so would cause a competitive imbalance issue.

Last year, though, the league did change to charter flights for all playoff games and certain regular-season games that are played on back-to-back days requiring air travel, policies that continue this season.

Clark also mentioned how the league's collective bargaining agreement, which specifies travel parameters, can be renegotiated if the players decide to opt out after the 2025 season.

"It will definitely be an adjustment," Clark said of commercial travel. "At this point of my career and across the WNBA, it is what it is. I'm sure everybody would say that they would love to be flying charter all the time. That definitely would help a lot of problems."

Fever forward Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 pick in 2023 out of South Carolina and last season's WNBA Rookie of the Year, said she has seen progress regarding security issues.

"We've talked a lot with security and just how they're going to be traveling with us and making sure there's someone with us," Boston said. "I think that's great, because of how we travel and how many people recognize us and the energy that's around the WNBA."