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Caitlin Clark may soon receive an eight-figure payday from Nike. But brands have already known her value for some time.
As initially reported by The Athletic earlier this week, Clark is likely to sign her first professional shoe deal with Nike—her name, image and likeness (NIL) rights partner during her years at the University of Iowa. The deal, reportedly “worth well over $20 million plus potential bonuses,” would give Clark a signature shoe and keep Nike in Clark’s family of brands that includes fellow collegiate NIL holdovers State Farm and Gatorade, as well as fairly new supporters such as Panini and Gainbridge.
Why would Nike make Clark an offer that reportedly blew Adidas and Under Armour out of the running before she’s even played a second of professional ball?
Caitlin Clark is worth the money.
Kevin Krim, president and CEO, EDO
“Caitlin Clark is worth the money,” said Kevin Krim, president and CEO of television data and analytics company EDO. “She’ll be worth it for Nike, without a doubt. This is not a fluke. She’s had a consistent, sustained, positive impact for all these brands that she’s aligned with.”
Set aside the 45 collegiate records Clark broke during her career at Iowa, the 18.9 million viewers who watched her in the NCAA women’s final on ESPN (4 million more than watched the men’s title game), and the 2.45 million viewers who watched her WNBA Draft selection on Monday (nearly four times the previous draft record and the most-watched WNBA broadcast since 2000).
Clark spent her collegiate career showing the kind of value she could bring to NIL sports marketing partners, including Xfinity, Goldman Sachs, Hy-Vee and Buick. Even on draft night, Krim noted that the top-performing ads of the ESPN broadcast were two State Farm ads and one 45-second Gatorade spot—all featuring Clark.
According to EDO, ads shown during NCAA women’s basketball games with Caitlin Clark were 7% more effective than those that aired in games without her. During her 266 appearances in State Farm ads last year, for example, those spots were 46% more effective at driving engagement than the average State Farm spot and another 28% more effective when they aired during one of Clark’s games.