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Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy claims Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark is "getting screwed" by her historic eight-year, $28 million Nike endorsement deal.
"If people want to complain about Caitlin Clark getting screwed complain about this. 8 year 28 million deal is STEALING. 8 years 80 million min is her worth and that's still prob too cheap. I hope she has an early opt out if they don't pay up when she blows through this deal," Portnoy wrote in response to ESPN's report on his X account Tuesday (April 23).
Clark, 22, NCAA basketball's all-time leading scorer, also reportedly received a four-year, $16 million offer from Under Armour and a four-year, $6 million offer from Adidas, while Puma showed interest but backed out of negotiations when notified that bidding would start at $3 million, prior to reaching an agreement with Nike, according to the Wall Street Journal. The former Iowa standout recently had her previous deal with Nike, which was agreed upon in 2022, expire following the conclusion of her decorated college basketball career at Iowa, allowing her to hit the market at the height of her popularity.
Clark's emergence as the face of women's college basketball has led to a significant increase in popularity for the sport, which included her final collegiate game, a loss to South Carolina in the March Madness Final, being the most viewed women's sporting event in history, peaking at 24 million viewers and averaging 18.7 million, which was a larger than the men's final for the first time in history. Clark recorded 30 points, including 18 in the first period, eight rebounds and five assists and averaged 31.6 points, 8.9 assists and 7.4 rebounds during her final season at Iowa.
Clark is scheduled to make her preseason WNBA debut against the Dallas Wings on May 3. The Fever will have 36 nationally televised games during the 2024 WNBA season.