ESPN Facing Backlash During Fever-Aces Game
ESPN Facing Backlash During Fever-Aces Game originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
There were five WNBA games on Sunday, but the main event was the nationally televised game on ESPN.
Ratings behemoth Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever were on the road to face the Las Vegas Aces and three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson.
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The Fever-Aces game was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET, but ESPN got on the bad side of fans at home before tip-off by keeping the American Cornhole League's Pro Singles Final event on-air into the scheduled time slot of the "WNBA Countdown" pregame show.
When "WNBA Countdown" did go on air, analyst Andraya Carter made a mistake that worried Indiana fans and angered others.
ESPN reporter Andraya Carter.© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
When the panel made picks for the game, Carter chose the Fever, but expressed concern over her pick by mistakenly reporting that Fever head coach Stephanie White was not going to be at the game.
White has missed two recent games this season, including Indiana's previous game on Thursday against the Golden State Valkyries, due to personal reasons. However, she was there on Sunday.
"Why did Andrea Carter just say we won't have Steph White today on ESPN??" said an X user.
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"ESPNs crack pregame crew said Stephanie White wasn't with the Fever today," wrote another. "But there she is on the sideline."
"ESPN is so unserious," said a critical fan.
"I mean it's espn…..," said one user with low expectations for the sports media giant.
For ESPN, mistakes are far more visible when the Fever are involved in a game. ESPN PR shared that last weekend's game between Indiana and New York, Clark's return from injury, was the third most-watched WNBA game on ABC (which owns ESPN) ever with 2.2 million average viewers.
Related: Caitlin Clark's Personal Decision Turns Heads Before Aces Game
Related: Fans Are Not Happy After Major Change During NBA Finals
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 22, 2025, where it first appeared.
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