Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark was spotted sitting with pop icon Taylor Swift at the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, and the WNBA’s official X account made sure to shout it out.
The response from fans wasn’t exactly warm, with many accusing the league of clout chasing after, in their view, barely acknowledging Clark during the season.
A 2-Word Caitlin Clark Shoutout Ignites Controversy
Clark watched the game at Arrowhead with Swift, who was there to cheer on her husband, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift made it back to Kansas City after performing at the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday night, and photos and videos of her and Clark (including a hug between the two) flooded social media.
Clark has an open calendar these days, as the Fever were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs by the Las Vegas Aces in the first round.
“Hey Caitlin,” the league posted at 6:59 p.m. ET. That was all it took to fire up plenty of fans.
“WNBA only acknowledging her for clout on here,” one podcaster wrote. “Spent 3 years barely promoting her.”
That stretch covers Clark’s entire WNBA career, which began when the Fever drafted her No. 1 overall out of Iowa in 2024.
“Oh, now you are looking for engagement?” one Clark fan asked.
“No one is watching the finals so you’re looking for engagement,” another fan added.
The post came one day after Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, which saw the Golden State Valkyries defeat the Atlanta Dream 68-64 at Chase Center in San Francisco. Game 2 tips off on Monday night in the same building.
Some fans cracked jokes about the post.
“Oh look at that! Turns out the WNBA actually knew where to find Caitlin Clark’s @. Amazing how their wifi magically reconnected just in time,” one fan wrote.
However, most just pointed out the lack of mentions for Clark during the season.
“Wow, the WNBA account is actually posting Caitlin for once. I am suprised,” another Clark fan added.
“All of a sudden, they want [to] mention Caitlin Clark, but during the regular season, they refuse to even acknowledge that she existed in the WNBA,” one user added.
It’s worth noting that one fan came to the WNBA’s defense, writing, “Last 2 seasons U would be right, but this season they’ve been better at acknowledging Caitlin’s existence.”
One fan joked about how the media would cover Clark hanging out with Swift and the WNBA’s shoutout.
“Can’t wait for the think piece telling Caitlin Clark that her hanging out with Taylor Swift during the WNBA Finals is stealing the spotlight from other women,” they wrote.
This isn’t the first time this month Clark’s name has been linked to Swift’s. On Oct. 13, the IndyStar reported on a study by Ryan Brewer, a division head and associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus.
It found that WNBA social media views jumped 436% in 2024 and reached nearly 2 billion by the end of Clark’s rookie season. Brewer said the jump was driven by viral highlights of that year’s rookie class, led by Clark’s highlight reels.
“People are fascinated by Clark,” Brewer said. “It’s kind of what I would say is a Taylor Swift effect. Taylor Swift has done something that has captivated people, and it’s hard to really get into what is differentiating Caitlin Clark from the rest of the WNBA, because there are a lot of other great players in the WNBA.”
Clark is a diehard fan of the Chiefs and a lifelong Swiftie, and this isn’t the first time that she has watched a Kansas City game with Swift.
While the WNBA’s X post was innocuous, Clark fans have grown frustrated with the lack of attention that she receives from the league despite her star power, so this shoutout felt like the final straw.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.