Caitlin Clark Has Told Unrivaled She Won’t Play in Inaugural Season

Caitlin Clark will not be taking her talents to South Beach.

The WNBA Rookie of the Year has definitively let Unrivaled know that she won’t be playing in the new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league this year, Front Office Sports has learned. ESPN reported Wednesday she would “not play” in the inaugural season tipping off Jan. 17 in Miami.

The league’s invitation will remain “open” and Clark knows she is welcome to join if she wants, one source familiar with the league tells FOS. There are still two spots remaining on its 36-player roster. The league hopes Clark will play in season 2 or 3 when it’s more established, another source familiar with the negotiations says.

The start-up league was prepared to offer the 22-year-old superstar more than $1 million for 10 weeks of work in Miami this winter, that source says.

But the Indiana Fever guard also needs some mental and physical rest after leading the Iowa Hawkeyes to the 2024 NCAA women’s college basketball championship, then setting WNBA rookie records for points, assists, and turnovers. She had only a month between her college and professional seasons, and a short break during the Olympics.

For now, the 36 players heading to South Florida in January won’t include Clark, who FOS has previously reported the league was actively pursuing.

The league declined to comment on this story.

FOS reported in October that the league was ready to put on a “full-court press” to land the WNBA No. 1 pick. The league signed several of Clark’s Hawkeyes and Fever teammates, including Kate Martin, Aliyah Boston, and Lexie Hull, and this week announced her sponsor State Farm as a marketing partner.

Clark commands TV audiences more than any other women’s basketball star, so not signing her is a blow to TNT Sports, which announced a multiyear media-rights deal with the league last month. With only 850 people able to fit in its studio arena, Unrivaled is relying heavily on its TV deal to reach fans. While the league’s cofounders, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, drew 2.15 million viewers to their WNBA Finals Game 5, that audience was still smaller than the 2.5 million people that tuned in for Clark’s playoff elimination game.

Unrivaled has also not attracted reigning WNBA MVP and major TV draw A’ja Wilson. “I will not be in Unrivaled this year,” Wilson said in September. “I love what it’s doing for my teammates and everyone; it’s creating another avenue for players to play and stay in America. But I will not be doing that. I will be chilling.”

Also on Wednesday, Unrivaled coaches drafted players into the league’s six basketball clubs, and then they were assigned to one of the teams.

Clark has spent much of her WNBA offseason on the golf course with the LPGA. Her involvement in the pro-am increased ticket prices and drew her signature massive crowds. With only a month between the end of her college season and the pros, this is Clark’s first significant time off from basketball in a year, outside of a short Olympic break this summer.

While turning down a multimillion-dollar offer might be a tough decision for some of her teammates, Clark’s endorsement deals give a comfortable cushion to her WNBA base salary of $76,535. Her eight-year deal with Nike is reportedly worth $28 million, and she has also signed with Gainbridge, Gatorade, and State Farm.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story initially reported that Clark had not told Unrivaled that she will not play in its first season. That has been updated based on new, up-to-the-minute information.