Caitlin Clark’s popularity has skyrocketed as of late. The young Indiana Fever guard had made an impact on women’s basketball during her time as an Iowa Hawkeye, but the attention she drew went off the charts once she turned professional.
Clark’s reported $11.1 million earnings this year has caught a lot of attention from both her fans and peers. She was ranked 10th among the top 15 highest-paid female athletes this year.
WNBA legend Sue Bird recently commented on how the one-time WNBA All-Star’s estimated earnings affect the WNBA.
“To me, it’s like for a league to hit it, for a league to be successful, for a league to have longevity and now to see for a player in a league to be able to garner money off the court in this way, some of it is just because it’s Caitlin Clark,” Bird said.
“You can’t remove that from the equation, but she’s a little bit of a catalyst because now that you’re seeing brands invest in her, they know that she’s going to be seen in the WNBA and so those brands are now also going to invest in the WNBA. And it’s going to just break the door open for all this investment to come in and that’s ultimately how the league will grow,” she added.
Caitlin Clark’s sponsorships had a significant role in her earnings this year, making up nearly 100% of her remunerations. Her rookie salary from the WNBA worth $76,535 contributed, but it didn’t help her rank higher in the list.
Some of the athletes in the top 15 list made over $10 million in salary and even more in brand sponsorships, including topmost lister Coco Gauff, who earned $30 million this year, followed by Eileen Gun with $22 million.
Caitlin Clark’s earnings part of the reason for her not playing in Unrivaled
Unlike several other stars in the WNBA, Caitlin Clark decided not to play in the inaugural season of the Unrivaled League. Time Magazine’s 2024 Athlete of the Year did, however, say that she could join the league in the future.
“I didn’t rule out doing it in the future, but this year is just not the best for me,” she explained.
Sean Gregory, senior sports correspondent at Time and Time.com who wrote and published the long feature about Clark, said the money she grossed this year had an influence in her decision not to play. Undoubtedly, her $11.1 million earnings will likely go up in years to come.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
