How big will Caitlin Clark be? Her current growth curve in terms of both popularity and marketability is enlarging daily, seemingly with untapped potential. Like the internet or the vastness of space itself, it’s difficult at this early juncture to accurately predict just how brightly her star will eventually glow.
The college basketball sensation for the Iowa Hawkeyes is finally leaving the NCAA ranks behind. Clark is moving into the WNBA this season, but she’ll be staying relatively close to home after being drafted by the Indiana Fever.
Bringing name recognition to women’s sports seldom seen in the past, Clark is breaking down barriers and bringing fans to the WNBA who in the past likely wouldn’t have even stopped to give the league a casual glance while in the midst of channel surfing. Her combination of girl next door image, along with her spectacular scoring ability on the basketball court is making the 22-year-old both a viral and marketing sensation. Clark set the NCAA career scoring record.
The best sportsbooks in Vegas are giving the rookie guard +500 odds to be the WNBA MVP. Clark is the third betting choice in this market.
Women’s NCAA Tourney Shattered All Ratings Records
Clark just keeps on breaking records, whether it be on the court with her sensational ability to play the game, or in getting people to watch women’s basketball.
During the NCAA women’s tournament, Iowa games involving Clark kept on shattering all previous TV ratings for women’s basketball. She’s played in the three most-watched women’s basketball games in television history.
There were 12.3 million who tuned in to watch Clark and the Hawkeyes beat LSU in the Elite Eight in a rematch of last year’s final. Iowa’s Final Four triumph over UConn drew an audience of 14.2 million. And the final, which saw unbeaten South Carolina topple Clark and the Hawkeyes 87-75, was tuned in by 18.7 million viewers.
By comparison, the 2023 WNBA Finals drew an average viewership of 728,000. It’s been 16 years since a WNBA game captured a TV audience of 1 million viewers.
The WNBA Draft drew a record audience of 2.45 million viewers, up 307% from last year’s draft, as Clark went first overall to the Fever. All but four of the Fever’s games this season will be broadcast on national TV.
Demand For Clark Appears Insatiable
Caitlin Clark with Jake from State Farm. (By State Farm – https://www.flickr.com/photos/statefarm/53246203896/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=140623374)
Clark majored in marketing at Iowa and that training is coming in quite handy for the basketball star.
In a starkly similar comparison to that of Michael Jordan’s arrival to the NBA in the mid-1980s, Clark is shattering all standards for a WNBA player’s shoe contract. Nike is signing the Iowa sensation to an eight-year deal worth a reported $28-million according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s far and away the largest shoe deal ever presented to a WNBA player, and it came at the conclusion of a fierce battle among all the leading shoe brands to be the company getting to outfit Clark’s feet on a basketball court.
Clark chose Nike, an investor in the WNBA, over Adidas, Puma and Under Armour. Under Armour even went as far as to have their top client, NBA superstar Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors, try to talk Clark into signing with them. She’s one of just three active WNBA players with a shoe contract.
Speaking of outfitting Clark, her star power was evident while she was at the WNBA Draft. She wore Prada while walking the red carpet on draft night, Later, at a post-draft press conference, she was decked out in Louis Vuitton.
“It typically takes five years before a major fashion brand will . . . dress any athlete,” suggested Adri Zgirdea, Clark’s personal stylist, to thegistsports.com.
Wait . . . Clark has a personal stylist?
That she does. And Zgirdea is predicting that her client will be setting more than just fashion trends in the WNBA. Clark’s presence “could lead to more players collaborating with major fashion brands,” Zgirdea predicted.
Excel Sports Management is representing Clark. That’s the same agency that represents such legendary athletes as golfer Tiger Woods and former MLB star Derek Jeter.
Clark’s profile is already taking the WNBA to places the league has never reached previously, and she hasn’t even set foot on the court yet for his first WNBA game. Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it would carry Fever t-shirts with Clark’s name and number in all 724 of its stores across the USA.
Dick’s has the license to carry WNBA apparel, but last season only carried WNBA products in 160 of the company’s outlets. This season that will again be the case. Only Clark’s shirts will be available for purchase in each and every Dick’s store.
WNBA e-commerce partner Fanatics indicated that Clark was the best-selling WNBA jersey in draft night history, selling out in an hour. Her jersey sales have outpaced every member of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys combined. Fever jerseys sold out at both Fanatics and Nike. Nike is projecting that Clark jerseys won’t be available for sale again before August of this year.
Clark has agreed to endorsement deals with other companies worth an estimated $3 million. Among the brands she’s working with are State Farm, Gatorade and Panini.
Clark Will Make WNBA Rookie Salary
One place where Clark won’t be getting paid is at work. As a first-year player in the WNBA, Clark’s base salary will be limited to $76,535. That’s less than some NBA mascots earn to prance around the court.
By comparison, Victor Wembanyama, the first player chosen in the most recent NBA Draft, was earning a base salary of $12 million this season with the San Antonio Spurs.
Clark’s rookie pact is a four-year deal worth a total of $338,056. It tops out at $97,582 in her 2027 option year.
This low stipend is causing outrage on social media. Even U.S. President Joe Biden chimed in, citing on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that “women are not paid their fair share.”
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