Caitlin Clark's magical run in Women's College Basketball finally came to a close yesterday after Iowa lost in the NCAA Championship Game for the second year in a row.
But a new chapter begins for Clark in a week's time as she is expected to be drafted with the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft on April 15.
There's been a ton of debate around Clark's decision to leave college to go pro. The most prominent aspect of the discussion is whether she is leaving money on the table by playing in the WNBA.
Clark is expected to earn around $76,000 from her salary during her first year in the WNBA assuming she is drafted with the first overall pick, while On3 pits her valuation at $3.4 million annually in the college level.
But Clark can still gain partnerships at the professional level. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said on CNBC on Monday, April 8 that she "feels confident" that college basketball players like Clark will still make a lot of money in the pros.
"There's a lot of opportunities beyond the base pay that gets quoted around: League marketing deals, team marketing deals," Engelbert said. "The NIL deals — which most of the women's college basketball players have [with] national brands — will carry over. And in fact, Caitlin has already signed, as well as some other players, additional deals to come into the pros because now you have a global platform."
Deloitte's Principal for Global and US Sports Pete Giorgio — who used to work with Engelbert at the consulting firm — is also confident in the success that Clark will reach at the next level.
"I think she's going to be wildly successful in the WNBA and likely even more successful than she was in college, however you'd like to measure that," Giorgio said.
There's no definitive way to determine whether Clark will make the same or more money in the pros than in college, especially in her first year, particularly given how much smaller the U.S. viewership and reach of the WNBA is right now.
The most-watched WNBA game of the 2023 season did not crack one million viewers, while the Final Four game between Iowa and the University of Connecticut breached 14 million viewers.
But on top of the global reach that the WNBA could offset that viewership, it also could see a massive carryover of viewership from Clark's arrival. Considering the NCAA saw that this year from Clark — and looking at how the league's already seeing ticket price increases for games with the Indiana Fever, Clark's likely destination, there's reason to believe in a strong transfer in viewership.
The get-in price for the first Indiana Fever game in Chicago on June 23 are at $160, before taxes and fees.
— Colin Salao (@colincsalao) March 5, 2024
For perspective, the get-in tickets for the next home game on June 27 against the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces are at $25.
The Caitlin Clark effect. https://t.co/ybAnrdSCbn pic.twitter.com/awYPS7WN5s
She could also explore other opportunities to play basketball at the professional level. The WNBA season only runs for about four to five months, allowing players to play overseas to earn extra money. While this is generally not in the millions of dollars, The Athletic reported that a handful of players have received at least half a million dollars in a season abroad.
The fan base and attention that Clark would bring would easily command top dollar.
Related: WNBA Commissioner has big plans for the league's next media rights deal
It has even been reported that Clark has received an offer from Ice Cube to play in the BIG3 league for a whopping $5 million. The deal would reportedly allow Clark to play in the WNBA as well as the BIG3, though it's unclear how that would work considering the BIG3's games are played during the WNBA season and because Clark may have other commitments as well. Clark was invited to join the US Women's National team's training camp this month and could find herself competing in the Summer Olympics in Paris in July.
What is clear is that Clark has options to make money that go far beyond her WNBA salary. She will be completely fine going pro.
Related: Women's basketball is gaining ground, but is March Madness ready to rival the men's game?
