They began pouring in as soon as the doors to CFG Bank Arena opened Wednesday night, clad in shirts, jerseys and hats bearing Caitlin Clark’s No. 22.

Among the thousands who came to see Clark’s Indiana Fever face the Washington Mystics in downtown Baltimore, a teen carried a sign that read, “I missed my mom’s bday for this.”

Clark didn’t even play, sidelined for two weeks by a left quadriceps strain. But to many, that didn’t much matter.

In the league’s first foray into Baltimore, the injured sharpshooter was still a huge draw, even as she spent the evening on the bench. Before an energetic crowd that was listed as a sellout of 11,183, Washington defeated Indiana, 83-77.

Clark’s absence left patches of empty seats throughout the arena and caused prices on the secondary ticket market to plummet. Last week, a spokesperson for StubHub said the average ticket to Wednesday’s game was selling for $350. By early Wednesday afternoon, 48 hours after the announcement of Clark’s injury, tickets were available on the platform for as little as $8.

Still, several fans said they never considered skipping the game because their interest in the league runs deeper than one player.

“It’s good to be able to support the WNBA regardless of who’s playing,” said Margaret Goods of Odenton, who attended with her 10-year-old grandson, Kaleb.

The Mystics typically move high-demand games from their 4,200-seat home in Southeast D.C. to Capital One Arena, which holds over 20,000. But with the downtown D.C. venue in the midst of a three-year renovation, the team sought other accommodations.

Hence the decision to relocate two games this season, both against the Fever, to Baltimore. Mayor Brandon Scott has called Baltimore “a basketball town above everything else,” though before Wednesday’s WNBA game, the city’s recently renovated arena had yet to host a marquee matchup to back up that claim.

The Mystics and Fever will play a second time on Sept. 7, and there is the possibility for additional games in 2026 and 2027 as the Capital One Arena renovations continue.

The WNBA’s arrival marks the highest-profile professional basketball event in Baltimore since the NBA’s Washington Wizards played a preseason game here more than a decade ago.

“Being able to bring this game here is so much more than basketball,” said Mystics guard Brittney Sykes, whose cousins are from Baltimore. “Now we’ve been able to show the little girls that are closer to Baltimore that, ‘OK, you have a possibility to go to the league.’”

At 4:55 p.m. Wednesday — more than two-and-a-half hours before the 7:30 p.m. tipoff — fans wearing shirts with Fever emblems and Clark’s visage had already begun lining up outside CFG Bank Arena, despite a steady drizzle.

Among them were Abryl and Haylee Lawrence, a married couple from Richmond, Virginia, who paid $1,400 for two seats a few rows behind the Fever’s bench. Even though Clark wasn’t playing, the Lawrences determined it was still worth making the three-hour drive to catch any glimpse they could of their favorite player.

“It was disappointing for sure, but she’ll be on the bench,” Haylee Lawrence said. “I’m sure she’ll be trying to hype up the crowd. Maybe we’ll see Coach Caitlin in action.”

Shortly before 6:30 p.m., Clark emerged from the players’ tunnel in a white zip-up, black sweatpants and white Nikes. Her brown hair hung loose over her shoulders, instead of being pulled back into her trademark game-day ponytail.

Clark greeted the throngs that crowded behind the Fever bench, signing jerseys, hats, sneakers and magazine covers that fans dangled over the railings. The scene was similar to the frenzy that has followed Clark at WNBA arenas across the country. Only this time, she was sparking that enthusiasm in a city that’s never been a hub for women’s professional sports and sits 40 miles outside the closest WNBA market.

Hylee Jarrett, an 18-year-old from Greenville, North Carolina, and two of her high school basketball teammates, emerged from the scrum with several signatures and photos with Clark. “I was shaking,” Jarrett said of meeting the star guard.

Jarrett and her friends said they made the six-hour drive to Baltimore in the rain because there aren’t many chances to see Clark near home. Wednesday was their first time attending a WNBA game.

Even though much of the crowd wore Fever gear, it enthusiastically cheered players from both teams, turning the night into a broader celebration of women’s basketball and its ascendant growth.

Tammy Kronebusch of Woodbridge, Virginia, said watching Clark play collegiately at Iowa got her interested in women’s basketball. That led her to pay more attention to her hometown WNBA team, the Mystics, and attend a few games last season. Now, the retired firefighter is both a fan of Clark and a Mystics season ticket holder.

“I had such a good time [last season,] and I enjoyed the thrill of watching women play basketball,” Kronebusch said. “I just got hooked.”

Tippi Gibson of northern Virginia also said a burgeoning interest in women’s college basketball served as a gateway to following the WNBA. Wearing a brand new jersey of Mystics rookie Kiki Iriafen, Gibson marveled at how far the sport has come in just a few decades.

“I grew up playing basketball in high school back in the ’90s — this wasn’t around back then," she said.

Fever coach Stephanie White said she hopes games in nontraditional markets like Baltimore are another way of introducing the league to new fans.

“A lot of folks and a lot of kids don’t have the opportunity always to get into D.C. to watch, whether it’s us or whether it’s the Mystics,” White said. “And now they have the opportunity to see two teams in person. I think it’s I think it’s really exciting.”