Throughout the NCAA Tournament, State Farm honored Caitlin Clark with a commercial to “cover greatness” amid her record-setting season. It was part of her NIL deal with the company, which also saw her appear in commercials with Jimmy Butler and, of course, Jake from State Farm.
Even though Clark is off to the WNBA – and her partnership with State Farm no longer falls under NIL – the insurance giant isn’t done celebrating her.
Jake from State Farm will attend Monday’s WNBA Draft and State Farm will put Clark on a billboard in Times Square as she gets ready to hear her name called. All indications are the Indiana Fever will select her with the No. 1 overall pick, and the anticipation for her arrival is growing across the league. There will also be a behind-the-scenes recap on Instagram after the draft.
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State Farm was one of Clark’s many high-profile NIL deals during her senior season at Iowa. She also notably had partnerships with Xfinity, Gatorade, Panini America and Nike as part of her lengthy portfolio. She later added a partnership with Gainbridge, which owns the naming rights to the Fever’s arena.
Those deals helped make Clark the face of college basketball, and she left Iowa with an On3 NIL Valuation of over $3 million.
Clark’s decision to declare for the WNBA Draft as the presumptive No. 1 pick generated plenty of discussion. She developed quite the following at Iowa as she shattered records – most notably passing Kelsey Plum, Lynette Woodard and Pete Maravich to become the Division I all-time scoring leader. It led some to wonder if she would effectively take a “pay cut” in the W considering the salary for the No. 1 pick is $76,500.
But most of Clark’s endorsement deals, especially the high-profile agreements, can follow her to the WNBA. She didn’t have an agreement in place with the Iowa-focused Swarm Collective and signed on with Excel Sports Management to represent her in the WNBA.
Clark also became a national name in college and was a star attraction, helping women’s basketball break multiple viewership records – including the most-watched sporting event outside of the Olympics and football since 2019. That’s not slowing down as she heads to the WNBA. Ticket prices are skyrocketing for Fever games, and the franchise will have 36 of 40 games played on TV as the Caitlin Clark effect looks to continue.
It’s also making Monday night one of the most anticipated nights in WNBA history.
“In terms of off the court, Caitlin’s kind of in a world of her own,” ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo said on a Zoom call with reporters Thursday ahead of the draft. “But I don’t know that we have seen this kind of excitement across the board.”
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