Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark has impacted the WNBA's numbers in almost every measurable way. By viewership, by revenue, by ticket sales and jersey sales, Clark's print on the league was immediate and palpable. In her second year with the Fever, that legend continues to grow, even while injuries hamper her sophomore campaign in the league.
Despite that, though, we've begun to get a very clear idea of just how much Clark can be literally valued. According to a new report from The Athletic's Ben Pickman and Sabreena Merchant, Clark's valuation per one economist begins with a capital B: a billion dollars.
“'It’s hard to believe she’s not worth close to a billion to the league,”' said one industry source not authorized to discuss the matter publicly."
As the article touches on and as many fans know, though, it's impossible to imagine that Clark will ever get a salary that touches anywhere close to that valuation. Over the course of her career, it's unlikely that even her cumulative salary will touch a billion dollars. Such is the case for so many other stars in "newer" leagues like Clark, though, which Merchant and Pickman explain in the piece.
Clark valued at a billion dollars
Clark is currently on a rookie-scale deal worth $78,066 this season that increases to $97,582 in 2027 prior to her becoming an restricted free agent in 2028, per Her Hoop Stats.
If she were to then get a "max" deal following what is currently a max salary in the WNBA ($249,244), and if she hypothetically played for another 10 years after that deal, she'd earn $2.49 million for the rest of her career overall in addition to the over $260,000 she'd have made on her rookie deal.
Clearly, that's nowhere near her true value. Per Pickman and Merchant in their piece, Clark's current deal is far below the actual value of the Fever franchise overall - only about 0.02 percent of the team's worth.
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A new collective bargaining agreement is coming soon from the WNBA and the player's association. Fever guard Sydney Colson recently took time during a media availability to advocate for a seat at the table, so to speak, in broadcast deal negotiations alongside commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
Clark isn't the only player that benefits from her own gravity. The entire league can use her valuation as a jumping off point when it comes to negotiating a fair, 50-50 revenue split between players and the WNBA. It's something that all other major United States leagues do, and it's time for WNBA players to also get in on a fair deal.