Caitlin Clark is possibly the biggest name in athletics this spring.
The Iowa standout has already eclipsed the NCAA scoring record, and if she makes a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, it will solidify her place among the greatest college basketball players of all time.
Before she ever set foot on a WNBA court, Clark was arguably the face of women’s basketball, and she rose to prominence at the perfect time. The NCAA’s NIL regulations, which permitted student-athletes to begin earning money in 2021, have allowed her to capitalise on her image and personality.
As her popularity has increased, Clark has signed multiple lucrative NIL deals, placing her among the highest-paid student-athletes in the country. Furthermore, there’s no reason to think that as she advances, such deals will disappear.
Here are some of Clark’s biggest NIL transactions along with her total earnings.
ON3 estimates that Caitlin Clark’s 11 known NIL deals are worth a total of $3.1 million. She is ranked #1 in women’s college basketball, having just surpassed Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson of LSU for the top slot. She is ranked fourth overall among all NIL-eligible athletes.
Rookies selected in the top four overall spots in 2024 will start their first professional season in the WNBA with a base salary of $76,535. Furthermore, Clark is expected to keep several of her sponsorship agreements once she enters the WNBA due to her notoriety.
Caitlin Clark NIL deals
Nike
Clark inked a deal with Nike in late 2022, putting the Iowa star hand-in-hand with one of America’s biggest brands.
“I grew up watching Nike athletes across all sports play their game,” Clark said in a release announcing the agreement, adding that she was “humbled” to join the current generation of Nike athletes.
Clark took advantage of her Nike partnership and gifted her entire team Kyler Murray’s signature sneakers in January.
Gatorade
Gatorade is one of Clark’s newest partnerships, as she signed an NIL deal with the energy drink brand in December.
Clark described the opportunity to work with Gatorade as a “dream come true,” and the brand celebrated her arrival by releasing a video featuring the Hawkeyes star that aims to inspire the next generation of athletes.
Buick
Buick added Caitlin Clark to the brand’s “See Her Greatness” campaign ahead of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, along with a handful of other women’s college basketball stars. That proved to be a wise decision, as greatness is exactly what Clark delivered during Iowa’s run to the national championship game, though the Hawkeyes lost the title to LSU.
State Farm
State Farm is among Clark’s most recent NIL deals, as she partnered with the insurance company in October.
While insurance and basketball might not seem like the most natural fit, State Farm has a long history of working with notable athletes including Patrick Mahomes, Chris Paul and Aaron Rodgers.
After a dominant run in 2023 that left Iowa just one win shy of a national championship, Clark became the latest athlete to join. She was featured in a December commercial for State Farm alongside Jimmy Butler and Reggie Miller.
Bose
Clark agreed to an NIL deal with Bose before the 2023 NCAA Tournament and was featured in an ad for wireless headphones.
Shoot-A-Way
Clark partnered with Shoot-A-Way, which produces basketball shooting machines, in late 2022.
Shoot-A-Way claims Clark has used one of its machines throughout her development, and the Iowa star teamed up with the company to donate a machine to her high school shortly after the deal came together.
Hy-Vee
One of Clark’s earliest NIL deals came with midwestern grocery chain Hy-Vee. The company announced the partnership in late 2021, and Clark’s work with the chain has continued into 2024.
Clark’s custom cereal brand, Caitlin’s Crunch Time, is available in Hy-Vee stores as of January.
H&R Block
Tax filing company H&R Block signed both Clark and South Carolina’s Zia Cooke to endorsement deals in April 2022.
Both Clark and Cooke participated in the company’s “A Fair Shot” campaign and appeared in social media ads.
Topps
Clark agreed to a deal with trading card company Topps in the summer of 2022.
It’s fair to say Topps’ gamble was a success, as Clark can now say she has the most expensive women’s basketball card in history after one sold for $78,000 in January.
Panini America
Topps won’t be in the picture long term, however. Clark will be an exclusive partner of Panini America for trading cards and autographed memorabilia, the first exclusive partnership with a female athlete in the company’s history, per a release.
The company will be rolling out cards featuring different highlights of her career, including a Panini Instant Card that will show the moment she became the women’s college basketball’s all-time leading scorer.
The partnership will officially go into place on April 1, 2024.
Goldman Sachs
In perhaps her most unique NIL deal, Clark and then-North Carolina standout Caleb Love partnered with Goldman Sachs to advocate for the modernization of the Small Business Administration.
Clark and Love appeared in the campaign that ran during the 2023 NCAA Tournament, but interestingly enough, Love and the Tar Heels missed the men’s tournament entirely while Clark went on a run to the women’s title game.
The Vinyl Studio
The Vinyl Studio was actually Clark’s first NIL deal, signed weeks after student-athletes became able to profit off of their image and likeness.
The Vinyl Studio is a woman-owned clothing company founded in Iowa, and the announcement of Clark’s deal came with the production of custom shirts.
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