Special players attract special contract offers—and compensation. The new Unrivaled women’s basketball league is considering a sweeping “Lionel Messi–like” offer to entice Caitlin Clark to play in the league’s inaugural season, sources tell Front Office Sports.
The start-up league’s “full-court press” to recruit Clark is similar to the push by Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF to woo Messi in 2023. The club knew that salary alone was not enough to land the global superstar. So Inter Miami constructed an unprecedented package that included a contract valued at $150 million, partial ownership, and other financial incentives. Apple even agreed to share revenue from MLS Season Pass with the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Clark was just named the fourth-most-marketable athlete in the world by SportsPro in London. (Messi ranks behind her at No. 5.) With her stardom and broad appeal in mind, the start-up league is poised to offer Clark everything from a salary possibly exceeding $1 million for less than three months of work, to equity and revenue sharing, sources say.
Similar to the “Messi Effect” on MLS, Unrivaled hopes a “Caitlin Clark Effect” would drive ticket sales and ratings for TV partner TNT Sports, while attracting blue-chip advertisers.
A million-dollar payday may not sound like much compared to NBA superstars like LeBron James, who’ll make $48.7 million with the Lakers this season. But it would be a fortune compared to Clark’s base salary of $76,535 during her rookie season with the Indiana Fever. Not counting incentives, she’ll make only $338,056 during her first four seasons, according to Spotrac. The WNBA’s highest-paid players for 2025—Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale—will make only $249,032. Warriors superstar Steph Curry makes $55.8 million.
Clark’s real income comes off the court. Among other deals, she has an eight-year, $28 million contract with Nike. Since her college days with the Iowa Hawkeyes, she’s built an impressive portfolio of corporate sponsors, including the Swoosh, State Farm, Gatorade, Wilson, Bose, Buick, and other brands. Clark is represented by Excel Sports Management, which also reps Derek Jeter as well as Peyton and Eli Manning (Excel declined to comment for this story).
Clark could easily spend her offseason training, playing golf, and shooting TV commercials. But Unrivaled hopes the combination of a high salary, a stake in the league (all players will receive equity opportunities), and the challenge of hooping against the world’s top female players will entice the 22-year-old point guard.
Cofounded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled promises its 30 players the “highest salaries in professional women’s sports league history.” That means a six-figure base salary outside of their equity stakes. But both players and agents have been told up front the league will not take a one-size-fits-all approach toward compensation, say sources. Instead, players will be paid on a sliding scale. The bigger their stardom, the bigger their social media following, the more players will earn. By that standard, there’s no bigger draw than Clark, who drives TV ratings like no athlete since Tiger Woods. To date, 26 of 30 players, including Chelsea Gray and Angel Reese, have announced their intentions to play in the six-team league. On Monday, the WNBA players’ union voted to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement that was supposed to run through 2027.
“Unrivaled is proud to offer the highest average salary in professional women’s sports league history—in addition to offering an equity stake to all athletes competing in the inaugural season,” a league spokeswoman told FOS on Tuesday. “While we believe Unrivaled is setting a new standard in the marketplace, we are not disclosing individual player compensation packages or league financials at this time.”
Unrivaled will tip off in Miami in January, 2025. The 3-on-3 league’s season will run for eight weeks, including playoffs. There may also be appeal for Clark to spend the coldest part of winter in sunny South Florida rather than wintry Iowa.
As with Messi, it’s up to Clark. The ball is in her court.
