To get her own sneakers, Caitlin Clark will sign a $28 million contract with Nike.
The intrigue surrounding Caitlin Clark’s next basketball destination was resolved when the Indiana Fever selected first in the WNBA Draft.
However, the same couldn’t be true about her shoe contract, as the biggest female basketball player in history was embroiled in a fierce competition with many of the leading shoe brands.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Clark will ultimately receive an eight-year contract that may be worth $28 million as well as a trademark shoe.
It happened when Clark elevated collegiate women’s basketball to unprecedented levels, partly thanks to her fame as the most prolific scorer in the history of the sport and record-breaking TV viewership.
The adroit marksman After this past season, when the six-foot Clark solidified her status as not just the most well-known women’s college hoops player but also maybe the most popular college basketball player overall, her prior contract with Nike, which was signed in 2022, came to an end.
The Wall Street Journal claims that during NBA All-Star weekend in mid-February, Clark’s representatives from Excel Sports Management met with representatives from Adidas, Under Armour, and Puma, among other brands, and informed them that they were seeking a $3 million annual deal as a starting point for the negotiations. This meeting marked the beginning of a fierce pace in the negotiations.
Even though Clark hadn’t announced for the WNBA Draft at the time, it was obvious that she would be the sport’s biggest star come the next season, whether she was a pro or still attending the University of Iowa.
According to the story, some executives even thought Clark would be more well-liked if she decided to spend another year at Iowa instead of joining the WNBA.
However, Clark is poised to succeed even in the WNBA next season based on her success this year.
Nevertheless, the article claims that Puma withdrew from the talks after objecting to the $3 million opening offer. Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty is already a member of their roster and wears a signature sneaker.
According to the Journal, during a Zoom session between Clark, her representatives, and Adidas, the firm was “surprised by how engaged, curious, and well-prepared” Clark was. Clark studied marketing at Iowa.
However, their $6 million over four years offer fell well short of the $3 million annual threshold.
According to The Athletic, Under Armour tried to recruit Clark and engaged its client, Stephen Curry, in the process. They offered a $16 million contract that would span four years and include a signature shoe.
But Nike was unmatched, and they could have Clark’s Olympic future in mind.
The eight-year agreement would extend to the following three Olympic Games, which are scheduled to take place in Paris this summer, Los Angeles in 2028, and Brisbane, Australia, in 2032.
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