Sports
What is Caitlin Clark's value to WNBA? A huge chunk of its $200-million revenue, expert says
The champagne hadn’t even dried after the New York Liberty won the WNBA championship when the players association announced it would opt out of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, which was set to expire in 2027.
A dramatic increase in revenues due primarily to the emergence of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and other marquee rookies prompted the players to recognize they aren’t getting what they believe to be a fair share. The CBA now ends after the 2025 season, blowing up a pay scale that set average salaries at about $120,000, with rookie minimums at $64,154 and veteran maximums at $241,984.
Clark’s four-year rookie contract under the CBA was for $338,056 — including $76,535 in 2024 — laughably low numbers given the revenue she helped generate. Clark broke almost every WNBA rookie record, but more impressive was her off-the-court impact.
“The numbers are so staggering,” said Ryan Brewer, associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, who was asked by the Indianapolis Star to put a price tag on Clark. “They don’t even seem real.”
The numbers, as crunched by Brewer:
- Clark was responsible for 26.5% of WNBA economic activity for the 2024 season, including attendance, merchandise sales and television. One of every six tickets sold at a WNBA arena can be attributed to Clark.
- Total WNBA TV viewership due to Clark is up 300%, and 45% of total broadcast value came from Fever games.
- WNBA merchandise sales rose 500%, with Clark ranking No. 1 followed by Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese.
- The Fever’s regular-season attendance averaged a record 17,036 per game, and the team’s total attendance of 340,715 also was a record.
- Clark’s regular-season games were watched by 1.2 million viewers on average, which was 200% more than games in which she didn’t play.
No wonder the players opted out of the current CBA, with the Women’s National Basketball Players Assn. stating its position succinctly with a video to X that proclaimed, “It’s business. We’re out.”
The WNBA signed a new media rights deal in July worth a reported $200 million a year, more than three times the current package. However, a question that will be raised during CBA negotiations is whether the surge in fan interest and revenue will continue or abate over time.
That’s why the WNBA media rights deal pales in comparison to the NBA’s new TV agreement with Disney (ABC and ESPN), Comcast (NBC and Peacock) and Amazon (Prime Video). Those outlets will air the league’s nationally televised games for 11 seasons beginning in 2025-26 and the NBA will be paid about $76 billion.
“As this continues to materialize, the corporate side, the business side, not the players union, but the other sides, are going to continue to watch to see that these numbers can stabilize and maintain rather than just spike and drop again,” Brewer said. “That’s what they’re afraid of. And that’s what’s keeping the numbers low.”
Clark, meanwhile, is doing quite well financially despite her low salary. Sportico on Wednesday published a list of the highest paid female athletes, and Clark was ranked No. 10, just behind Simone Biles. Clark, the only basketball player on the list, earned $11.1 million in 2024. (On top of the list for the second year in a row was tennis star Coco Gauff, who made $30.4 million in prize money and endorsements.)
Endorsements make up the bulk of Clark’s income. She gets $3.5 million a year from an eight-year contract with Nike and also has deals with Gatorade, Gainbridge, Hyvee, Xfinity, Wilson, Buick and State Farm Insurance.
Most WNBA players, of course, have only a small fraction of that sort of endorsement income. They must rely on their salaries, which many supplement by playing overseas during the WNBA offseason.
Only 9.3% of league revenues of $200 million in 2024 went to player salaries, according to Bloomberg. That’s less than $20 million. Meanwhile, NBA players share 50% of their league revenue, which in 2023 meant $5.3 billion of $10.6 billion.
Few argue against a larger slice of WNBA revenues going toward player salaries, and precise numbers will be hammered out in CBA negotiations a year from now. Until then, the best evidence players can point to would be continued growth in attendance, TV viewership and merchandise sales.
And Clark’s contribution undoubtedly will remain a major factor.
Sports
Ranking 134 college football teams after conference title games: Boise State’s climb continues
Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.
The first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff was an absolute success.
Regardless of how the bracket plays out, it has already accomplished exactly what it was supposed to do. More regular-season games had more stakes. New faces made the field. The first-round games on campus will be electric. And the field appears wide open. It’s everything we wanted. Good job, everyone.
As for the bracket makeup itself, I don’t necessarily agree with every seed, but the committee got the right group. SMU was the correct decision over Alabama, at least in the current system where conference championships remain very important. Alabama’s wins were better, but its losses were worse. In the end, pulling a championship game loser out in favor of a three-loss team with bad losses would have upended the point of conference races. It was a close call. It was the right call.
Coming off conference championship weekend and ahead of the postseason, there was a shakeup at the top of this week’s penultimate edition of the Athletic 134.
GO DEEPER
College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Who are the national championship favorites?
1-10
My philosophy is to reward conference championship game winners and not ding the losers too much, except when they play each other. As a result, I have the same top seven as the committee. I said a week ago that a strong performance against Oregon would move Penn State above Notre Dame, and that’s what the Nittany Lions delivered in a 45-37 loss. Georgia’s second win against Texas jumped the Bulldogs up to No. 2, but I can’t drop the Longhorns much for an overtime loss.
The bottom end of the top 10 is different from the committee’s choices. Boise State and Arizona State move up to No. 8 and No. 9 with dominant championship wins against top-25 teams. SMU fell to No. 10 as a result of its loss to Clemson, but only because it was jumped by two other teams that played. While Arizona State has a blowout win against a Wyoming team that gave Boise State problems, the Sun Devils’ two regular season losses, compared to Boise State’s one last-second loss at No. 1 Oregon, keeps the Broncos ahead.
GO DEEPER
In defense of the College Football Playoff’s funky seeding format
11-25
Rank | Team | Record | Prev |
---|---|---|---|
11 |
11-1 |
9 |
|
12 |
9-3 |
11 |
|
13 |
10-2 |
13 |
|
14 |
9-3 |
14 |
|
15 |
9-3 |
15 |
|
16 |
10-3 |
25 |
|
17 |
10-2 |
16 |
|
18 |
9-3 |
17 |
|
19 |
9-3 |
18 |
|
20 |
10-3 |
19 |
|
21 |
9-3 |
20 |
|
22 |
11-1 |
28 |
|
23 |
9-3 |
21 |
|
24 |
10-3 |
22 |
|
25 |
10-2 |
23 |
Like SMU, Indiana fell back two places because it was jumped by two teams that had lopsided wins against top-25 opponents. Indiana has no such wins. The Hoosiers are still in my field, but their lack of quality wins left them open to getting jumped. Alabama remains the last team out of my 12-team CFP field.
Clemson moves up to No. 16 with its last-second win against SMU, but the Tigers stay behind South Carolina because of their loss to the Gamecocks a week ago. Army jumps up to No. 22 with a 35-14 win against Tulane, and UNLV falls to No. 24, jumped by Clemson and Army.
GO DEEPER
Alabama snubbed? The Crimson Tide’s case for Playoff inclusion
26-50
Rank | Team | Record | Prev |
---|---|---|---|
26 |
8-4 |
24 |
|
27 |
8-4 |
26 |
|
28 |
8-4 |
27 |
|
29 |
8-4 |
29 |
|
30 |
9-4 |
30 |
|
31 |
7-5 |
31 |
|
32 |
7-5 |
32 |
|
33 |
7-5 |
33 |
|
34 |
8-4 |
34 |
|
35 |
8-4 |
35 |
|
36 |
9-3 |
36 |
|
37 |
8-4 |
37 |
|
38 |
8-4 |
38 |
|
39 |
7-5 |
39 |
|
40 |
10-3 |
52 |
|
41 |
10-3 |
40 |
|
42 |
6-6 |
41 |
|
43 |
6-6 |
42 |
|
44 |
8-3 |
43 |
|
45 |
7-5 |
44 |
|
46 |
7-5 |
45 |
|
47 |
7-5 |
46 |
|
48 |
6-6 |
47 |
|
49 |
6-6 |
48 |
|
50 |
6-6 |
49 |
Tulane remains at No. 30 after the AAC title game loss to Army. Sun Belt champion Marshall jumps up to No. 40 after a 31-3 win against Louisiana.
51-75
Jacksonville State climbs to No. 60 with a 52-12 win against Western Kentucky in the CUSA title game, and Ohio moves up to No. 73 after beating Miami (Ohio) to win the MAC. The Bobcats stay behind Kentucky because of their 41-6 loss to the Wildcats in Week 4.
76-134
The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo: Loren Orr / Getty Images)
Sports
Bengals snap losing streak after Cowboys' head-scratching blunder on 'Monday Night Football'
The Cincinnati Bengals have had some crushing defeats this season, but something finally went their way to cash a 23-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football.”
The Bengals snapped a three-game losing streak, moving to 5-8 on the season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ win streak of two games comes to a halt and they are also 5-8 on the year.
At the two-minute warning, the Bengals were in their own zone after a potential game-winning drive went awry. Facing fourth-and-27, they had no choice but to punt, and things got much worse when Cal Adomitis blocked the punt which should’ve given the Cowboys perfect field position to take the lead late in the game.
Then, that big Bengals break came for Zac Taylor’s squad.
Amani Oruwariye thought it was smart to try and recover the bouncing ball as it was making its way downfield, but he was unable to field it cleanly.
Since it touched Oruwariye, the Bengals could recover and regain possession, and that’s exactly what happened as Maema Njongmeta fell on the ball at the Cincinnati 43-yard line to give Joe Burrow and his crew another shot at taking the lead.
JOE BURROW PLAYS COY WHEN ASKED ABOUT $3 MILLION BATMOBILE PURCHASE: ‘DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT’
Just three plays later, Burrow found ol’ reliable, Ja’Marr Chase, on a short pass where he made a Cowboys’ cornerback miss, and he was off to the races for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 27-20 after the extra point.
That capped another “Monday Night Football” highlight reel for Chase, who finished the game with 177 yards on 14 catches with two touchdowns, which also included the first for the Bengals on the night.
Cooper Rush and the Cowboys did have enough time to move downfield for a potential game-tying drive. But on fourth-and-7 near midfield, Rush overshot Jake Ferguson and the ball hit the turf, sealing Dallas’ fate as a loss.
CeeDee Lamb, who scored the game’s first touchdown and had 93 yards on six catches, was jumping up and down because he was wide open in the middle of the field. Rush didn’t see him, and thus the result.
Burrow’s night was another spectacular one, as he went 33-for-44 for 369 yards with three touchdowns – the other a catch-and-run by running back Chase Brown in the first half – as well as an interception.
For the Cowboys, a positive trend continued for Rico Dowdle despite the loss, as the young running back rushed for a game-high 131 yards on just 18 carries. Since taking over the lead role in the backfield, Dowdle has really turned it on late in the season.
Both of these teams might not be in playoff position with four games remaining, but a primetime thriller was seen at AT&T Stadium where the Bengals finally tasted victory again.
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Sports
Stephen Barbee resigns as football coach at Long Beach Poly
Stephen Barbee has resigned after seven seasons as football coach at Long Beach Poly.
That opens up a job at a school that has won 20 Southern Section championships.
It is a tougher job than in a previous era, because private schools have been taking away players and attendance boundaries play a major role.
But Poly is Poly, with lots of talent around campus.
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