Is Caitlin Clark leaving money on the table?

For women's college basketball players, timing when to go pro can be tricky.

4/8/24 5:35PM

For most collegiate athletes, getting drafted by a professional team offers opportunities for money and fame that were inaccessible in college. For a few athletes, especially female players, the decision to go pro isn’t as straightforward, as their potential college earnings might be higher than what they’ll make in the pros.

Caitlin Clark electrified college basketball this season, and her on-court abilities contributed to lucrative off-court earnings. Since 2021, collegiate athletes have been able to profit from their own Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), allowing them to sign endorsement deals with different brands. According to on3, Clark’s NIL valuation is now $3.4M, and she has already signed deals with premium brands such as Nike, Gatorade, and State Farm.

However, in February, Clark announced that she was forgoing her last season of college eligibility to enter the WNBA draft, where she is projected to be the first overall pick. Her expected rookie salary? $76,535.

WNBA players sign endorsement deals as well: WNBA star Candance Parker, for example, made $8.1M in 2023, and virtually all of her pay came from endorsement deals (her 2023 WNBA salary was just $100,000).

But the WNBA’s audience pales in comparison to women’s college basketball, and Clark was the catalyst for the two most watched games ever in women’s college basketball. Iowa’s Final Four matchup against UConn had 14.2M viewers, breaking the previous record of 12.3M viewers for Iowa’s game against LSU just days before. Meanwhile, the most-watched WNBA game ever, Game 4 of the 2023 finals, drew an average of just 889,000 viewers, peaking at 1.3M viewers for 14 minutes of the game.

Yes, Clark will be one of the most sought-after sponsorship partners in the WNBA, but when you consider league viewership numbers, it’s easy to argue that she would command a higher market value by playing one more season for Iowa — she will almost certainly earn less in her rookie season as a professional.

The peptide gold rush: How impending deregulation could supercharge a shadow industry

Peptides, the gray-market supplements that have flooded Silicon Valley, may soon make their way into the mainstream. Who stands to benefit?

J. Edward Moreno3/26/26

Millie Giles

DOLLYWOOD

3/20/26

The Labubu movie is just the latest toy story hitting the big screen

After smash-hit Barbie, Lego, and Transformers movies, Pop Mart’s viral dolls will now get the Hollywood treatment.

Millie Giles

RECORD BREAKING

3/18/26

US vinyl sales topped $1 billion last year for the first time since 1983

With fandoms and audiophiles alike now wanting their music in a physical format, the analog economy is thriving.

Fans Line Up At Target For Midnight Release Of Taylor Swift's New Album

Millie Giles

AWARDS FUNDS

3/13/26

It might be less expensive to make an Oscar-winning movie than you think

Three of the 10 Best Picture nominees at this year’s Academy Awards had production budgets of $10 million or less.

Saleah Blancaflor3/9/26

Prediction markets show “One Battle After Another” leads in Oscar race for Best Picture

It’s finally Oscars week — and with voting officially closed, all that’s left to do is count the ballots and wait to see who wins this Sunday night.

This year, the acting categories have been the most interesting to watch, especially the showdown between “Marty Supreme” star Timothée Chalamet and “Sinners” actor Michael B. Jordan for Best Actor. While Chalamet was long the favorite, Jordan has caught up and overtaken him after winning the Actor Award.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

But perhaps the most exciting race of all is for Best Picture. Out of the 10 nominees, the two at the top are Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” and Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” both of which are studio releases from Warner Bros. Discovery.

Which will win the top prize seems to be split among award pundits and experts. As of Monday afternoon, Gold Derby still has “One Battle After Another” as the front-runner with odds of 76.87%. AwardsWatch, AwardsRadar, and Numlock Awards are also still predicting that “One Battle After Another” will take the statue for Best Picture.

On the other side, reporters from some major trade publications like Variety’s Clayton Davis and The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg predict that “Sinners” will take the top honor.

Odds in the prediction markets currently show that “One Battle After Another” is still ahead of “Sinners,” with the former priced in at 75% while the latter is priced at 23%.

Is Caitlin Clark leaving money on the table?

More Culture

The peptide gold rush: How impending deregulation could supercharge a shadow industry

Prediction markets show “One Battle After Another” leads in Oscar race for Best Picture

Latest Stories