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Caitlin Clark is set to pull in the most lucrative shoe deal deal a women’s basketball player has ever signed.
The contract she and Nike have agreed to will bring the superstar up to $28 million over eight years, plus a signature shoe, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Clark’s team set the bar high, telling shoe companies a deal must be at least $3 million per year, according to the Journal. That made Puma drop out, and Adidas’s reported offer of a $6 million, four-year deal far below the mark. The Under Armour offer was the next most enticing, with a four-year, $16 million contract and a signature shoe pitched with the help of Stephen Curry, The Athletic reported. At one point, some companies were making offers contingent on her staying at Iowa for another season, thinking she’d hold bigger star power by playing one more year in college, according to the Journal.
While Under Armour would bring her a higher annual salary, Clark reportedly is going with Nike. She had been with the Oregon-based shoe giant since 2022, but their contract expired after this past college season.
Clark follows in the footsteps of Sabrina Ionescu, who was lured by an Under Armour–Curry pitch but also went with Nike. Along with her signature shoe, Ionescu was reportedly able to earn up to $24 million, but she won’t hit that mark thanks to injury and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Journal reported. Clark posed in a pair of Sabrina 1s for her first photo shoot in an Indiana Fever jersey.
Since announcing her decision to join the WNBA, Clark has also inked deals with Gainbridge—which sponsors the Fever’s home arena—Panini, and Xfinity.
