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
Tom Brady on late hit call against Azeez Al-Shaair: ‘I have mixed emotions’
Former NFL quarterback and Fox analyst Tom Brady said he had “mixed emotions” about the uproar surrounding a late hit on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence on Sunday, and argued quarterbacks need to “take better care of themselves” when leaving the pocket to run.
Appearing on Fox’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Tuesday, Brady argued that the onus of protecting a running quarterback doesn’t just fall on the defense. Brady’s comments came after the NFL suspended Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for three games for the hit that concussed Lawrence. Al-Shaair is appealing the suspension.
“It’s gone to a point where everyone will label a certain player as a dirty player; I don’t like that one bit,” Brady said. “Maybe they fine or penalize a quarterback for sliding late and say, ‘Look, if we don’t want these hits to take place, we’ve got to penalize the offense and the defense rather than just penalize a defensive player for every single play that happens when there is a hit on a quarterback.’”
Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, detailed a story during his playing career where he slid late and took a crushing hit. His teammates told him to get down because “these players are coming to get you.”
“Defensive players have to be aggressive, that’s their nature,” he said. “I always tried to be aggressive on offense, we tried to block aggressively and at the same time the defense tried to tackle aggressively.”
Brady added, “I see (Buffalo Bills quarterback) Josh Allen running a lot, I see (Baltimore Ravens quarterback) Lamar Jackson running a lot and it’s a great skill to have. I wish I had that skill set. And at the same time, when you run, you put yourself in a lot of danger, and when you do that, I don’t think the onus of protecting an offensive quarterback who’s running should be on a defensive player. I don’t really think that’s fair to the defense.”
.@TomBrady discusses late hit on Trevor Lawrence:
“If we don’t want these hits to take place, we’ve got to penalize both the offense and the defense.” pic.twitter.com/fnmCJ7oZwj
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 3, 2024
Al-Shaair apologized for the hit on Lawrence on Monday.
“I genuinely didn’t see him sliding until it was too late,” Al-Shaair said in a post on X. “And it all happens in the blink of an eye. To Trevor, I genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening. Before the game we spoke and I told you how it was great to see you back on the field and wished you well. I would never want to see any player hurt because of a hit I put on them especially one that’s deemed ‘late’ or ‘unnecessary.’”
Texans general manager Nick Caserio addressed his frustration in a Tuesday news conference amid the backlash Al-Shaair has received since Sunday, defending the linebacker.
“I think where we take umbrage is the picture that’s been painted about Azeez, his intentions, who he is as a person — quite frankly it’s b—–-,” Caserio said. “It’s unfair to the individual, it’s unfair to the organization. We love everything about Azeez Al-Shaair, what he means to this team, what he brings to this team. He was elected a captain after being here for four months.
Brady said it is also up to offensive coordinators and play callers to help protect quarterbacks by not calling so many designed runs.
“The aspect for a play caller, there’s more design runs for quarterbacks ever now than in the history of the NFL. So are we really trying to protect quarterbacks? Because if you are trying to do it through the rules then why are the offensive coordinators not protecting by keeping them in the pocket and not designing as many quarterback runs?”
The Texans are off until Dec. 15, when they will host the Miami Dolphins.
Required reading
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
Sports
Gymnast Simone Biles vows to 'never' return to Pilates class, cites difficulty with first experience
Simone Biles is an elite athlete and one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, but she recently admitted she struggled to get through a workout.
Biles apparently took some time off after she won her fifth, sixth and seventh Olympic gold medals earlier this year in Paris.
But she recently resumed her workouts.
According to Biles’ social media account, Pilates was at least part of her first post-Olympics workout, but her experience with the popular exercise was not something she is interested in doing again.
“First time working out since the olympics,” the superstar gymnast wrote on her Instagram story Wednesday. “This is what I wore to a Pilates class that I will never be attending again! Y’all stay strong out there lmao. It was too hard.”
LIVVY DUNNE REFLECTS ON WATCHING SIMONE BILES IN PERSON AT OLYMPICS, ‘HEARTBREAKING’ JORDAN CHILES CONTROVERSY
Joseph Pilates is credited with developing the exercise. A typical Pilates class involves machines, which use bands and movable benches.
Exercises focus on Improving flexibility and building muscle strength. When done properly, Pilates has also been known to help lower back and leg muscles.
Biles has not ruled out competing again in the Olympics.
“Never say never. The next Olympics is at home. So, you just never know. But I am getting really old,” Biles, 27, said in August.
The Summer Games are scheduled to return to the U.S. in 2028, when athletes from across the globe descend upon Los Angeles. It will mark the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics an American city hosts the summer edition of the Games.
In addition to the three gold medals she earned at the Paris Olympics, Biles also won silver in the floor exercise.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Sports
Prep basketball roundup: Sherman Oaks Notre Dame surges past Los Alamitos
Less than two minutes into the game against Los Alamitos on Wednesday night, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame coach Matt Sargeant went into full Dan Hurley mode, calling a timeout and benching four of his starters with his team trailing 7-2.
By the end of the first quarter, his team trailed by three points and Zachary White was fuming not only because he couldn’t find his missing jersey at home, but because Sargeant was dissatisfied with his effort.
“I was mad,” White said. “He said I wasn’t playing hard, so I wanted to prove him wrong.”
White proceeded to score five consecutive baskets in the second quarter to help Notre Dame obliterate the No. 10-ranked team in Southern California with a 31-9 surge. By the game’s conclusion, Notre Dame had won 100-69, leaving little doubt that the Knights, St. John Bosco, Harvard-Westlake and Eastvale Roosevelt are four teams that have separated themselves from the rest of the top teams early this season.
And Notre Dame (5-0) is still awaiting the return of Tyran Stokes, its All-American junior transfer student recovering from a wrist injury. He’s practicing but probably won’t be available to play until later this month. Lino Mark scored 24 points and Josiah Nance had 22 points. White finished with 12 points and nine rebounds and planned to search for his jersey. Samori Guyness had 19 points for Los Alamitos (3-2).
Loyola 69, Downey 54: Quincy Watson finished with 20 points for Loyola.
Bishop Alemany 46, Arcadia 41: Freshman Houston Rolle had 11 points for Alemany.
Westlake 56, Crespi 52: Austin Maziasz led the Warriors’ upset with 19 points. Peyton White had 26 points for Crespi.
Heritage Christian 68, Bishop Montgomery 56: Dillan Shaw and Tae Simmons each scored 23 points and Dominic Loehle added 19 points for 6-0 Heritage Christian.
Mira Costa 71, Cajon 52: The Mustangs (8-0) received 14 points from Eneasi Piuleini.
Crossroads 82, Venice 49: EJ Vernon returned to scored 31 points and get 10 rebounds for Crossroads.
Viewpoint 63, St. Genevieve 23: Wesley Waddles had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Viewpoint.
Tesoro 66, Churchie 56: Nathan Draper had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Tesoro.
AGBU 71, Mesrobian 54: Isaiah Bennett had 30 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for 9-0 AGBU.
Malibu 78, Pilgrim 72: Dylan Goosen had 36 points in the overtime win.
Girls basketball
Ventura 70, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 43: Kailee Staniland scored 29 points for Ventura. Freshman Hamiley Arenas had 29 points for Notre Dame.
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