CAITLIN Clark earns a salary of just $76,535 a year despite being the new face of the WNBA.

But the Indiana Fever star has already assembled an impressive business empire thanks to a series of lucrative sponsorship deals.

Caitlin Clark has an impressive business empire
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Caitlin Clark has an impressive business empireCredit: Getty

The WNBA star has an endorsement deal with State Farm
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The WNBA star has an endorsement deal with State FarmCredit: State Farm

The Indiana Fever guard also works with Gatorade
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The Indiana Fever guard also works with GatoradeCredit: Gatorade

She is poised to sign a $28 million deal with Nike
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She is poised to sign a $28 million deal with NikeCredit: Nike
Clark is on the brink of signing an eight-year deal with Nike worth up to $28 million, including potential bonuses.

Rival sportswear companies Under Armour and Adidas also made pitches to Clark, with Steph Curry even meeting with her personally for an Under Armour sales pitch.

However, it was Nike that won the bidding war and secured Clark on their athlete roster for the foreseeable future, per The Athletic.

Her Nike deal is worth 368 times her WNBA rookie contract.

 

It means the WNBA star will earn at least $3.5 million per year, and she will likely get her own signature shoe.

Clark, who was a marketing major in college, first signed a deal with Nike in late 2022 during her time at Iowa.

“I grew up watching Nike athletes across all sports play their game,” Clark said in a release.

Clark took advantage of her Nike partnership and gifted her entire team Kyler Murray’s signature sneakers in January.

She secured a number of other NIL deals in college, including blue-chip companies such as Gatorade, State Farm, Buick, Bose, Topps, and Panini America.

Other deals included Shoot-A-Way, Hy-Vee, H&R Block, Goldman Sachs, and The Vinyl Studio.

Caitlin Clark: The Future of the WNBA
Her 11 known NIL deals are worth a combined estimate of $3.1 million, according to On3.

Clark, who has over 2.2 million followers on Instagram, works with Excel Sports Management to secure endorsement deals.

She even shares an agent with NFL legend Peyton Manning,

For all her off-the-court earnings, Clark has kept her focus on basketball.

“If I’m being completely honest, I feel like it doesn’t change a ton from how I lived my life over the course of the last year,” she said.

“Sponsorships stay the same. The people around me, agents and whatnot, have been able to help me and guide me through the course of the last year.

“I don’t know if I would be in this moment if it wasn’t for a lot of them.”

MAJOR MILESTONE

Clark has had plenty of reasons to celebrate on and off the court in recent weeks.

She celebrated her one-year anniversary with her boyfriend, fellow Iowa basketball star Connor McCaffery.

Clark and her boyfriend, Connor McCaffrey, recently celebrated their first anniversary
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Clark and her boyfriend, Connor McCaffrey, recently celebrated their first anniversaryCredit: Instagram

The pair are both former Iowa basketball stars
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The pair are both former Iowa basketball starsCredit: Instagram

The couple went Instagram official last August
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The couple went Instagram official last AugustCredit: Instagram
The WNBA star posted a black-and-white picture of the couple together with the caption, “One year of the best [memories] w my fav person…

“You make everyday better and I can’t wait for many more adventures together… love you.”

McCaffrey put out his own post about the pair’s celebration.

“One year w the best doing life w u has been easy, and you never cease to amaze me,” he wrote on his Instagram.

“Can’t wait to watch u live out ur dreams in person love you.”

Like his superstar 6-foot girlfriend, the 6-foot-6 McCaffrey is a former basketball star at the University of Iowa.

He is also the son of Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery.

Clark and McCaffrey started to date each other last year.

It was Clark who made their relationship public last August when she posted a photo with McCaffery on a boat on her Instagram feed.

“Best end to summer,” was the message she wrote in the caption.

There have been various messages posted on social media by the pair since.

Caitlin Clark fever

CAITLIN Clark’s impact was already felt by the WNBA even before she was drafted.

The Iowa college superstar went No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever in a surprise to absolutely nobody.

The Indiana Fever had 36 of their 40 games in the 2024 season scheduled for national TV – up from 22 last year.

Teams also moved their games against the Fever to bigger arenas to cater for the extra ticket demand.

Clark helped the NCAA draw 18.9 million viewers for the women’s championship game, more than the 14.8 million who watched the men’s decider.

She has also already signed a deal with Nike worth upwards of $20 million.

McCaffery posted a birthday message to Clark on Instagram when she turned 22 in January.

“Happy Birthday 22. Wish I was there to celebrate with you – you deserve the best day. Golden Bday/T Swift year will be the best yet,” he wrote.

 

“With all that you’ve already accomplished, there is so much more in store for you and your special self. I admire you in every way and I love you.”

Clark responded to the message, joking, “Acting like u a T swift fan tho is crazy, but I will let this slide hehe.”