Ok, now for a little Spritzler hard hitting commentary. BAM!
You know who's the world's highest paid female athlete? Iga Swiatek. Never heard of her? She's the Polish tennis star who made $10 million on the court last year and another $14 million in endorsements. Why so much? Because women's tennis makes big money and has big "paying" audience.
Right now the WNBA doesn't generate revenue. Clark is bigger than the WNBA and that's why her endoresement income will be off the charts.
Wait, Caitlin Clark Is Only Getting Paid $76,000?
College basketball’s leading scorer became the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on Monday night, but her salary is a fraction of what other superstar athletes make
Caitlin Clark was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.
By Rachel Bachman, WSJ
Updated April 16, 2024
Caitlin Clark going No. 1 in the WNBA draft was a foregone conclusion long before she was selected with the first pick by the Indiana Fever on Monday night. But for much of America, it still delivered one major surprise.
Her salary is what?!
Clark will make $76,535 this season. That’s the prescribed base compensation for each of the top four picks in the draft, according to the WNBA’s collective-bargaining agreement with players.
Sports fans and the general public, many of whom aren’t familiar with the salary structure of the 28-year-old league, were stunned at the idea that the new face of women’s basketball is now making the same amount as a junior accountant.
By Tuesday evening, President Biden had joined the conversation. “Women in sports continue to push new boundaries and inspire us all,” he wrote on X. “But right now we’re seeing that even if you’re the best, women are not paid their fair share. It’s time that we give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons and ensure women are paid what they deserve.”
People are used to the salaries in major men’s sports, where $76,000 barely covers the cost of the team mascot. San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, makes a $12,160,680 base salary, for instance. That’s nearly 159 times as much as Clark will make for the Fever.
How did this happen to the generational player who, even while in college was starring in national TV commercials alongside NBA players?
As new fans of the WNBA will learn, the league isn’t subject to the same federal gender-discrimination law as are college sports. At universities across the country, female athletes are supposed to be afforded roughly similar experiences and opportunities as male athletes. (That is, outside of sponsorship agreements, where players can earn as much as they’re able.)
In professional sports, the market prevails. Given that women’s pro team sports generally came along decades after their male counterparts, that means female athletes tend to make far less money.
The NBA, founded in 1946, is now a globally followed, 30-team league with broadcast-rights deals worth an estimated $2.6 billion annually. The WNBA, a 12-team league that launched in 1997 and plays roughly half as many games, has broadcast-rights deals worth $60 million a year.
Caitlin Clark will make far more from sponsors including State Farm, Gatorade and Hy-Vee than from her WNBA salary.
The good news for Clark is that her salary is only a small part of her overall earnings. She makes far more from sponsors including State Farm, Gatorade and Hy-Vee than she does in salary.
She can also earn more from the WNBA in supplementary payments. Clark could make up to $250,000 a year by serving as a marketing ambassador for the league, up to $100,000 for team marketing deals and earn other bonuses for winning league awards.