The Caitlin Clark Effect: Nike wins the bidding war, signs the Indiana Fever superstar to an 8-year, $28 million contract
Women’s basketball superstar and the newest member of the Indiana Fever Caitlin Clark just completed a bidding war between the biggest shoe brands in the world – looking for a home to launch her signature shoe now that she’s in the WNBA.
Nike came out as victors, inking Clark to an 8-year, $28 million deal that as expected, will come with her own signature shoe. Adidas and Under Armour also made offers but were ultimately outbid while Puma, closed the door once they learned the price to even be considered would start at $3 million.
Caitlin Clark Offers Before Signing with Nike
Caitlin Clark Offers:
- Nike: 8-Years, $28 Million
- Under Armour: 4-Years, $16 Million
- Adidas: 4-Years, $6 Million
- Puma: Walked Away at $3 Million Bidding
Honestly, Nike offering 8-years and $28 million with a signature shoe could be a massive steal for the company.
Clark is quite literally carrying the weight of women’s basketball on her back and if she’s able to carry even a fraction of viewership over from the Women’s NCAA Tournament to the WNBA, then you can easily imagine every girl in America playing basketball in her shoes – along with men given the fact that they are being produced and co-branded with Nike.
On WNBA Draft night, it was reported that Fanatics, the apparel company that manufactures WNBA jerseys, sold out of sizes XS, M, L, XL and XXL Clark jerseys just one hour after she officially joined the Indiana Fever.
WNBA will broadcast nationally for 36 of the 40 Indiana Fever regular season games – up from 22 last year. Ticket prices across the WNBA have skyrocketed and teams are looking to move arenas from their typical home courts to bigger venues when Caitlin Clark comes to town.
The Caitlin Clark Effect:
Last week, the Washington Mystics announced that they will be relocating their June 7 game against the Indiana Fever from their 4,200-seat home stadium in D.C. to the 20,000 plus-capacity Capital One Arena, citing “unprecedented demand.”
It’s the second team to announce such a move in anticipation of Fever frenzy. The Las Vegas Aces have said they will move their July 2 game against Indiana from Michelob Ultra Arena to T-Mobile Arena to accommodate some 8,000 additional fans. [NPR]
Point being, the “Caitlin Clark Effect” is real and we’ll have to see how it holds up over time, obviously – but locking in Caitlin Clark to a smooth 8-year, $28 million contract could very well be the steal of the century for Nike.
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