Caitlin Clark to signal $28 million Nike shoe deal, reviews

Clark, whose NCAA profession on the College of Iowa pushed ladies’s basketball to new heights, already had a Nike deal as a school athlete. That deal, allowed underneath new regulations that let faculty athletes to signal endorsement offers, expired after the faculty basketball season ended a number of weeks in the past. 

Now that Clark has gone professional because the primary choose by the Indiana Fever within the WNBA draft and brought the sports activities world by storm, she is eyeing a a lot larger payday from the swoosh. 

Clark’s rumored take care of Nike would come with a signature shoe line, according to The Athletic. The truth that Clark will signal what is ready to be the largest attire contract of any WNBA participant and grow to be certainly one of solely three with their very own shoe is testomony to how a lot Iowa’s sharpshooter has cemented her standing as one of the vital bankable stars in sports activities. Alongside the best way, she set numerous basketball information on the courtroom and rankings milestones amongst followers, as her enchantment turned actually mainstream. 

Different shoe corporations resembling Under Armour, Adidas, and Puma additionally tried a run at Clark, however she opted to remain put with Nike. Beneath Armour’s pitch even included an look from NBA celebrity Stephen Curry, who’s the face of the model’s basketball attire. Adidas despatched Clark prototypes for what her sneakers may seem like, according to the Wall Road Journal. Puma dropped out early, as soon as it heard Clark was trying for no less than $3 million a season. 

Finally that was a quantity that solely Nike may match. Clark’s rumored deal would pay her $3.5 million a season over the course of the deal. That quantity is sufficient to be one of many largest endorsement offers within the WNBA. In the intervening time solely three WNBA gamers—Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Elena Delle Donne—have their very own shoe line. In basketball circles, having a branded shoe is taken into account a standing image that represents each a participant’s expertise and their standing as an icon, worthy of selling their very own line of merchandising. 

Clark definitely suits the invoice for the latter. Whereas in faculty, Clark turned one of the vital electrifying and talked-about athletes within the nation. On the courtroom she broke information, changing into the highest-scoring basketball participant in NCAA historical past. These performances pushed the sport to new ranges of recognition. A Ultimate 4 matchup between Clark’s Iowa and the College of Connecticut was the highest-rated basketball recreation in ESPN’s historical past, in line with the sports activities broadcaster. 

The size of Nike’s contract appears, partly, to try to get in early on Clark’s recognition. A mixture of plain basketball expertise, together with her penchant for bombing three pointers, and her unbothered, affable persona are the form of uncommon mixture that would propel her to the mainstream enchantment manufacturers crave of their superstar spokespeople. 

Clark isn’t any stranger to the world of high-profile model offers. In faculty, except for her Nike deal, she had endorsements valued at $3.1 million, making her one of many highest-paid faculty athletes within the nation. The tens of millions Clark is ready to earn from sponsors pales compared to her WNBA salary, which can be slightly over $76,000.