Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking 2024 season culminated with her being named TIME Magazine’s Athlete of the Year and earning a debut spot on Sportico’s highest-paid female athletes of the year. Clark is the only basketball player on the list and her total earnings surpassed $11 million.AdvertisementNoting this surprising yet welcoming achievement from the young phenom, WNBA Legend Sue Bird joked about Clark’s newfound wealth while on her podcast, telling her fiance Megan Rapinoe that the pair would not pay if they had dinner with the Fever star in the future. Bird said, “Caitlin Clark debuts at no. 10 on Sportico’s highest-paid female athletes list, bringing in $11.1 million in total earnings, we will never pay dinner when we go out with her again.” After the hilarious joke and acknowledgment of Clark’s success, Sue and her partner broke down the list and noted a rather concerning trend for the top 15 athletes: Female athletes earn more off the court than they do on it, meaning their endorsements and other partnerships are largely responsible for their career earnings. In Caitlin’s case, she earned a whopping $11 million from her partnerships with Nike, Wilson, and Gatorade, among other sponsors, and only $76k from her historic rookie year in the league. “And I think you’re seeing that across the board with women, is that the money that they’re making on their respective court/field, is less than what they’re making in marketing.” However, there were positive trends for the pair to go over. According to a stat that Bird pulled up, the world’s 15 highest-paid women athletes are set to earn an estimated $221 million, which is a 27% increase from the year before. Additionally, eleven athletes made at least $10 million, compared with six in 2023. As Rapinoe pointed out, there is good news for women’s sports as a whole. Team sports and leagues are just getting the attention they deserve, due to what many experts have labeled the ‘Caitlin Clark Effect’. “But you’re seeing it in leagues now. Caitlin, obviously, is a special talent on and off the court in a bunch of ways, but I feel like this means that the market is signaling that women’s sports leagues are something that is on the rise, and is like an investable area of growth.” Bird added that while Clark’s wealth is down to her skill and marketability as a player and a person, her very presence in the public eye means that people are naturally drawn to the WNBA. The 2024 season saw an unprecedented rise in the WNBA’s marketing money, so much so that teams started to fly chartered planes for the first time in league history. “She also is a little bit of a catalyst, because now that you’re seeing brands invest in her, they know that she is going to be seen, in the WNBA. And so those brands are also going to invest in the WNBA, and it’s going to break the door open for all thus investment to come in, and that’s ultimately how the league will grow.” Bird, who played college ball in the early 2000s never got to experience the NIL, which is another reason Clark’s earnings in 2024 are so high. Caitlin Clark’s NIL deals Caitlin Clark made her debut on the coveted list after a record-breaking college career that included more than a dozen NIL deals. Several of those brands, including Nike, Gatorade, State Farm, and Panini, have continued their relationship with Clark as a pro where she was the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever. Additionally, she’s signed a deal with Wilson, that will see the brand launch her very own signature basketball. Clark’s NIL value before her draft was estimated to be roughly $3.1 million, and even after her rookie season ended, her NIL valuation is a huge part of her earnings. Despite the WNBA’s historic growth this year, the new TV and media deals aren’t due to kick in till the end of the 2025 season, which means it’ll take at least another year to see how the salaries of the athletes go up. One thing is for sure though, by the time the new $200 million/a year deal kicks in 2026, the ‘Caitlin Clark Effect’ will have well and truly transformed women’s basketball.

Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking 2024 season culminated with her being named TIME Magazine’s Athlete of the Year and earning a debut spot on Sportico’s highest-paid female athletes of the year. Clark is the only basketball player on the list and her total earnings surpassed $11 million. Advertisement Noting this surprising yet welcoming achievement from the young […]

Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking 2024 season culminated with her being named TIME Magazine’s Athlete of the Year and earning a debut spot on Sportico’s highest-paid female athletes of the year. Clark is the only basketball player on the list and her total earnings surpassed $11 million.

Noting this surprising yet welcoming achievement from the young phenom, WNBA Legend Sue Bird joked about Clark’s newfound wealth while on her podcast, telling her fiance Megan Rapinoe that the pair would not pay if they had dinner with the Fever star in the future.

Bird said, “Caitlin Clark debuts at no. 10 on Sportico’s highest-paid female athletes list, bringing in $11.1 million in total earnings, we will never pay dinner when we go out with her again.”

After the hilarious joke and acknowledgment of Clark’s success, Sue and her partner broke down the list and noted a rather concerning trend for the top 15 athletes: Female athletes earn more off the court than they do on it, meaning their endorsements and other partnerships are largely responsible for their career earnings. In Caitlin’s case, she earned a whopping $11 million from her partnerships with Nike, Wilson, and Gatorade, among other sponsors, and only $76k from her historic rookie year in the league.

“And I think you’re seeing that across the board with women, is that the money that they’re making on their respective court/field, is less than what they’re making in marketing.”

However, there were positive trends for the pair to go over. According to a stat that Bird pulled up, the world’s 15 highest-paid women athletes are set to earn an estimated $221 million, which is a 27% increase from the year before. Additionally, eleven athletes made at least $10 million, compared with six in 2023.

As Rapinoe pointed out, there is good news for women’s sports as a whole. Team sports and leagues are just getting the attention they deserve, due to what many experts have labeled the ‘Caitlin Clark Effect’.

“But you’re seeing it in leagues now. Caitlin, obviously, is a special talent on and off the court in a bunch of ways, but I feel like this means that the market is signaling that women’s sports leagues are something that is on the rise, and is like an investable area of growth.”

Bird added that while Clark’s wealth is down to her skill and marketability as a player and a person, her very presence in the public eye means that people are naturally drawn to the WNBA. The 2024 season saw an unprecedented rise in the WNBA’s marketing money, so much so that teams started to fly chartered planes for the first time in league history.

“She also is a little bit of a catalyst, because now that you’re seeing brands invest in her, they know that she is going to be seen, in the WNBA. And so those brands are also going to invest in the WNBA, and it’s going to break the door open for all thus investment to come in, and that’s ultimately how the league will grow.”

Bird, who played college ball in the early 2000s never got to experience the NIL, which is another reason Clark’s earnings in 2024 are so high.

Caitlin Clark’s NIL deals

Caitlin Clark made her debut on the coveted list after a record-breaking college career that included more than a dozen NIL deals. Several of those brands, including Nike, Gatorade, State Farm, and Panini, have continued their relationship with Clark as a pro where she was the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever. Additionally, she’s signed a deal with Wilson, that will see the brand launch her very own signature basketball.

Clark’s NIL value before her draft was estimated to be roughly $3.1 million, and even after her rookie season ended, her NIL valuation is a huge part of her earnings.

Despite the WNBA’s historic growth this year, the new TV and media deals aren’t due to kick in till the end of the 2025 season, which means it’ll take at least another year to see how the salaries of the athletes go up. One thing is for sure though, by the time the new $200 million/a year deal kicks in 2026, the ‘Caitlin Clark Effect’ will have well and truly transformed women’s basketball.