How much Caitlin Clark gets screwed with $76,535 WNBA salary

Clark’s ratings momentum has continued from Iowa into the WNBA.

The remaining 14 games of the Indiana Fever’s regular season schedule, who sit seventh in the WNBA at 11-15, will be on national television, including the Fever's return to action vs. the Phoenix Mercury. Not a bad deal for the WNBA.

Also in that Fever financial report: the Fever had the second-most engagement for social media across ALL American sports franchises between April through July with 800 million views. Only Lionel Messi's Inter Miami had more.

Mass appeal beyond the game

As witnessed most recently by Clark hanging with the “starstruck” New York Yankees and Aaron Judge, Clark has pop-culture appeal that the WNBA and Indiana Fever are certainly using to their bottom-line profit benefit.

The new media rights agreement is now up to $2.2 billion over the next 11 years (with incentives for more), and a disproportionate reason for that is the Caitlin Clark effect. 

Obviously Clark and her team have struck huge deals with brands, most notably the record $28 million deal with Nike, including the recent unveiling of her inaugural signature Kobes.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said that Clark could make as much as $500,000 for her rookie season with undisclosed incentives, and the WNBPA can opt out of its current deal this November with more leverage.

For Clark and other transcendent WNBA superstars, let’s hope they are able to get closer to their true market value. Because now, she’s an absurd bargain.

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