The wild scenario in which Caitlin Clark could be able to start her own league: Book author
Caitlin Clark's biographer and USA Today sports columnist, Christine Brennan, hinted that the WNBA superstar could start her own league if she really wanted to, helping to keep an ongoing conspiracy theory going.
Brennan was appearing on ESPN LA to promote her book 'On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports' – an unauthorized biography about Clark – when the writer was asked by host John Ireland about the idea.
'Nike loves her. She's got Wilson, obviously. She's got Gatorade,' Brennan said. 'Even though the salary's $76,000 for a rookie — it's more this year now — she's making $28 million from Nike alone, according to the Wall Street Journal. So she's at $40 million, whatever. OK, fine, she's doing great. And if Nike said, 'We're going to make the Nike-Clark league,' it would obviously take a few years to get the arenas and whatever.
3 Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) cheers for her team during the first quarter against the Dallas Wings at the American Airlines Center.
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
'But you know the TV contract. I mean, it's Caitlin. Again, the TV viewership, it's Caitlin Clark. It's not Angel [Reese] and Caitlin. It's Cailtin. It's Caitlin Clark only. And I think Angel's a great rebounder and excellent at what she does, but she doesn't move the needle on TV ratings. It's Caitlin. And they could do it. I think they could absolutely put it together in a couple of years. And I'll stay on that because I agree with you. It's fascinating and it's doable because of the void in the vacuum of leadership the WNBA continues to exhibit.'
Certainly, a lot has been made about Clark and her treatment since she joined the WNBA last year as the No. 1 overall pick and has become the biggest name in the league, selling out arenas and boosting television viewership.
But Clark has been a lightning rod of controversy as debates have raged over whether she has been protected enough by the officials when she's been on the court and if she's taken an unfair brunt of the frustration from other WNBA players.
But the idea isn't likely to go away, especially if the physical play continues against Clark.
3 Fans of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) hold up signs during the first quarter against the Dallas Wings at the American Airlines Center.
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Clark did turn down an invite to join the startup 3-on-3 league, Unrivaled, which competes during the WNBA offseason.
Brennan has been a source of controversy herself due to the framing of her coverage of the WNBA and Clark, and drew the ire of the WNBA Players Association over her line of questioning to DiJonai Carrington following an incident with Clark last season.
3 Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) looks around the defense of Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams (5) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Tuesday, June 24, 2025, in Seattle.
AP
Clark has played in just nine of the Fever's 16 games this season because of injury and is currently out with a groin injury.
She is averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds per contest and was named an All-Star game captain via fan votes.
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New York Times
25 minutes ago
- New York Times
Should Caitlin Clark be a WNBA All-Star Game starter? Our experts reveal their votes
For the first time in WNBA history, All-Star Weekend is coming to Indianapolis. The city is not new to hosting major sporting events, routinely hosting Final Fours and annually hosting the NFL Draft Combine, but the arrival of the WNBA All-Star Game on July 19 comes at an inflection point for the Fever, who have rocketed in popularity over the last two seasons. Advertisement All-Star starters will be announced Monday. The league will release rankings from fan votes (50 percent), player votes (25 percent) and media votes (25 percent). The four guards and six players with the best score will be starters. Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier were named captains because they received the most fan votes. The WNBA is expected to unveil the 12 All-Star reserves, decided by the coaches on July 6. The captains will select teams in a draft broadcast on July 8. Before all that occurs, here is how The Athletic's Ben Pickman and Sabreena Merchant voted in their official ballots due last Friday, as well as how they are thinking about some critical All-Star questions. (Picks in alphabetical order according to positions) Pickman: In terms of guards, Seattle had been more than 36 points better per 100 possessions with Diggins on the floor than off it, and she already has 44 assists this season to Ogwukime, the most of any combination. Gray leads all players in win shares and is having a career-year under first-year coach Karl Smesko. Ionescu has been more efficient on offense this season, leading New York to an 11-3 at the time my votes were due. Whether to include Caitlin Clark was the toughest guard decision. At the time ballots were due, Clark led the league in assists and was fifth among guards in scoring. She also runs one of the league's most difficult actions to stop when she initiates two-player action with Boston. (Clark has 40 assists to Boston this season, second-most of any pair in the league.) Though Clark's home/road shooting splits are stark, her highs have been among the best this season. Her availability is what has given me the most pause. Clark played only nine games at the time ballots were due because of a left quad injury. (She's now missing additional time with a left groin injury.) She already has been named a captain, so debate over her candidacy is for naught, but reasonable cases can be made for Rhyne Howard, Advertisement Arguments are valid for Paige Bueckers, Brittney Sykes and Kelsey Plum to receive this spot over Clark, too. Clark has undoubtedly been one of the best guards in the league when healthy, but considering there are other players on my ballot who had played just two games more than her at the time of voting, I was willing to look past it. Merchant: Alyssa Thomas was the toughest frontcourt omission (and might have been impossible to leave out had voting not closed before Thomas' 17-point, 15-assist game Friday). However, the frontcourt pool is incredibly deep, and she couldn't overcome the missed time. If Thomas makes the reserve roster once she has played more — she currently isn't in the top 50 in total minutes played — that will feel deserved. The disqualifying factor for Clark was her inefficiency. She's shooting below 40 percent from the field and below 30 percent on 3s. When it came down to her and McBride, it was hard to choose the player who has so many more empty possessions, especially when McBride is the superior defender on the best team in the league. Apologies also to Jackie Young, who has taken on a large burden for the Aces. Ultimately, it didn't seem fair to reward teams with losing records with multiple All-Star starters. Merchant: Kayla Thornton (GSV) I considered Gabby Williams, but her inclusion feels so obvious to me that I'll make a pitch for a more unheralded candidate. Thornton has become the lifeblood of the upstart Valkyries, averaging career-best marks in points, rebounds, steals and fouls drawn at age 32. She has an almost spiritual connection with the fans in Ballhalla — nothing (other than a Kate Martin 3) seems to get them going like a Thornton bucket, especially one in transition. Crashing a forward pool that includes Shakira Austin, Dearica Hamby, Bri Jones, Thomas and Williams will be challenging, but Golden State deserves at least one All-Star, and Thornton's energy, physicality and late-game execution — she's 10th in the WNBA in clutch points per game — make her the pick. Advertisement Pickman: Brittney Sykes (WAS) Sykes is having a career-year under first-year coach Sydney Johnson. Known throughout her career as one of the league's best defensive players, Sykes' offensive game has blossomed this season. She's scoring a career-high 19.6 points per game, while shooting a career-best 41.7 percent from 3. She's also recording a career-high in assists (4.8), and is getting to the free-throw line more than anyone else in the league (9.6 attempts per game). Sykes is second among guards in shot attempts from less than five feet, converting an impressive 60.6 percent on those looks, as she attacks the rim with an aggressiveness that creates scoring chances for herself and teammates. As Sabreena mentioned, Williams is another first-timer lock, but Sykes should be, too. Brittney Sykes today 🔥 • 28 points • 6 assists • 3 rebounds • 6/12 FG • 29 minutes played — Women's Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) June 8, 2025 Pickman: Can I plead the fifth here and say no team is going to get more than three All-Stars? I would be surprised if New York, Seattle, Indiana and Atlanta don't get three each with the Lynx potentially also getting three if Courtney Williams is selected (more on that later). For the first few weeks of the season, an argument could be made for Liberty guard Natasha Cloud's first All-Star selection, but I think her candidacy suffered some in early-to-mid June. Merchant: In theory, the league's best teams should have the most All-Stars, but I expect all of Minnesota, New York and Phoenix to top out at two (apologies to the injured Jonquel Jones). It's the second tier of Seattle, Atlanta and Indiana that will probably all get three selections. It's a function of roster construction more than anything, as the top trio of teams simply has more depth, with fewer players putting up eye-popping stats. Merchant: Hamby has been excellent for the Sparks, and her motor powers the defense and transition offense. However, it's hard to see coaches voting for two players from struggling L.A., and Kelsey Plum figures to get more love with her top-10 scoring and assist averages. On the subject of bad teams, Arike Ogunbowale has been an All-Star every year since her rookie season, including winning All-Star Game MVP twice, but that streak likely will come to an end this year. Her exclusion won't necessarily be a snub considering the drop in her scoring and shooting percentages, but it is surprising in what should be the prime of her career. Pickman: My responses speaks to the above question regarding how many Lynx will make the All-Star team. For much of the season, Williams has been the second-best player on the team with the WNBA's best record. She is averaging career-highs in points (17.3) and assists (7.8) per 36 minutes, and her effectiveness in pick-and-roll scenarios with Collier (Williams has assisted Collier baskets 34 times this year) is central to Minnesota's success. Advertisement Yet, I'm keeping a close eye on whether Williams will get into the All-Star Game. She's a veteran whose per game averages don't jump off the page. How will coaches weigh Williams' case against Chelsea Gray, Thornton, Sonia Citron, Kelsey Mitchell, Kiki Iriafen or Azurá Stevens? A lot of players with strong resumes might find themselves on the cut line. (Photo of Caitlin Clark and Nneka Ogwumike: Alika Jenner / Getty Images)
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
If Caitlin Clark's worth a ‘billion' to WNBA, why is she paid only a fraction of that?
In 1997, economists from MIT and Cambridge co-authored a paper on the economic value of NBA superstars, focusing on Chicago Bulls' icon Michael Jordan. At the time, Jordan had already won four NBA championships, briefly retired, then returned to the league. The window in which Jordan was away from the NBA provided a clearer glimpse into the value he brought to it. Advertisement Beyond what he meant to the Bulls, the two economists, Jerry Hausman and Gregory K. Leonard, found that Jordan generated $53 million to other teams during the 1991-92 season — around $121 million today — through analyzing star-powered factors such as gate revenue, and local and national TV revenues. Jordan was making around $3 million in salary at the time — around $7 million today. 'A significant portion of an NBA team's revenue can be traced to Michael Jordan,' they wrote. Caitlin Clark has produced a similar financial effect on the WNBA. Since she entered the league as the top draft pick in May 2024, the Indiana Fever have become the WNBA's equivalent of The Beatles. Everywhere Clark goes, eyes follow: when she attends Pacers games, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concert or a Kansas City Chiefs game. Even when she played in an LPGA Tour pro-am, fans flocked to the course. Clark and the Fever have set WNBA viewership records, consistently sell out Gainbridge Fieldhouse and prompt some opponents to move their games to larger-capacity NBA arenas. The Fever unveiled T-shirts this season with the tag-line 'Every Game is a Home Game.' 'To see the influence that she has on people, bringing people out here, and to see how amazing of an influence she is for sports, (that) was really cool to see firsthand,' said Nelly Korda, the world's No. 1 golfer after playing nine holes with Clark this past November. Usually, where such attention is attracted, money follows to an athlete's pocket. Clark has gained millions in endorsement deals with Gatorade, State Farm, Nike and others (valued at $11 million in 2024, per Sportico), but it's obvious her value to the WNBA — and women's sports, more broadly — is significantly higher than the $78,066 salary she is contracted to receive. 'In my lifetime, we had Muhammad Ali, we had Michael Jordan, we had Tiger Woods, and to me, it's early, but we have Caitlin Clark,' said John Kosner, a former ESPN executive turned industry consultant. 'People who don't care and don't follow the sport that she plays (in) have been driven not just to watch, but to watch avidly.' .@CaitlinClark22 delights fans in Dallas 👏@IndianaFever | #IONWNBA — WNBA on ION (@IONWNBA) June 27, 2025 However, she doesn't receive compensation like sport's other Mount Rushmore figures. She's unlikely to ever be paid even close to what she is really worth to the league. Her agent, Excel's Erin Kane, said she didn't think that would ever be possible. So what is Clark worth to the WNBA? '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. Advertisement Clark, of course, is just one of many WNBA players who is vastly underpaid — a key prompt for players currently renegotiating their collective bargaining agreement with the league. But because of how much Clark drives the league's economy, the delta between her salary, which is two-thirds the league average of $117,133 (as of opening night), and her actual value is especially stark. Consider that her salary is around 0.02 percent of the Fever's recent valuation by Forbes of $340 million. Television ratings, attendance and merchandise sales are just some factors economists use to assess an athlete's value. That was the focus of the Jordan study three decades ago and remains relevant today. The Caitlin Clark Effect is well-documented and taps into such categories for analysis. But Judd Cramer, an economics lecturer at Harvard, also cites the dramatic increases in both media rights deal valuations and franchise valuations across women's sports since Clark's senior year at Iowa when thinking about her value. The Fever's valuation increased 273 percent from 2024 to 2025, according to Sportico, and the average valuation of WNBA franchises rose 180 percent in that span, too. 'The idea that she (is) maybe worth 1,000 times her salary in franchise value is not inconceivable,' Cramer said. Under the current CBA, the WNBA supermax contract is $249,244 and Clark would have to finish her rookie contract (four years) before earning that. A lot would have to change in the women's basketball landscape for her to earn 1,000 times her current salary of $78,000 — $78 million would be about $20 million more than the highest-paid NBA player (Stephen Curry) this past season. Merely multiplying Clark's salary by 10x would be a leap under the WNBA's current salary structure. As was the case for Jordan when he stepped away from the game from 1993-95, Clark's absence — she missed five games over nearly three weeks with a quad injury — demonstrated how much she moves the needle. Two games on NBA TV had viewership drop by 40 percent compared to the Fever's first game on the network with Clark, though one still ranked in the channel's top-10 broadcasts. Although the Fever's game against the Chicago Sky reached 1.9 million viewers – the third most for a WNBA game on CBS — it was 30 percent fewer than watched the Sky-Fever game with Clark on ABC. The resale tickets for the game at the United Center also dropped about 70 percent after Clark's injury was announced, yet it still drew a Sky-record 19,496 fans. Advertisement 'She's going to be massively underpaid because it's not just what she's doing for her team but what she's doing for the other teams,' said Michael Leeds, a professor of economics at Temple University. Said the aforementioned industry source: 'She's making opposing owners seven figures when she shows up.' Clark entered the WNBA at an opportune time after growing her brand at Iowa, profiting off modern name, image and likeness rules and more television exposure for women's basketball players. The WNBA was already entering a substantial growth period, too, with league revenues doubling from 2019 to 2023, per Bloomberg. Yet, while Clark was jet fuel for the moment, the structures of the sport have stopped her from capturing her full worth. The WNBA's ownership model prevents players from receiving the bulk of its revenue. The NBA owned half of the league before 2022, when the WNBA sold 16 percent of its equity in a $75 million capital raise, a transaction that diluted the then-12 teams' total stake to 42 percent. NBA players take home 50 percent of basketball-related income, while the other half goes to the owners. In the WNBA, the league's owners don't even control 50 percent of the league, so a theoretical 50/50 split of total revenue would leave only 21 percent of the pie each to both the owners and the players. Beyond the realm of the hypothetical, no such splitting provision even exists in the current collective bargaining agreement; player salaries presently account for less than 10 percent of revenue. 'The WNBA is hamstrung by this, because if they tell the amazing story of what's going on in their league in terms of revenue, then they have to explain why the players are paid so badly,' said David Berri, a professor of economics at Southern Utah University. The CBA has a mechanism for revenue sharing if certain targets are reached. However, that agreement was created in 2020, when the league played a pandemic-impacted bubble season and essentially made no money. Because the revenue targets are cumulative, the WNBA hasn't caught up despite recent rapid growth, preventing all players from benefiting from financial gains. Advertisement The league also has a hard cap per team that limits individual salaries. The cap is currently $1.5 million, a total spread among 11 to 12 players per team. To increase the cap, and thus increase salaries, the league needs a massive growth in revenue. And the biggest driver of revenue across sports leagues is media rights. Last year, the league signed the richest media rights deal in women's sports league history. The value of what commissioner Cathy Engelbert has called the WNBA's 'tranche 1' deals — around $200 million annually over 11 years with Disney/ESPN, NBC and Amazon as of 2026 — jumped from $33 million with ESPN in 2025. (The total value of the W's current media rights with all of its partners is about $50 million this year.) But the uptick in value was agreed upon before Clark-mania officially began in the WNBA. The NBA and WNBA did not announce the terms of the new media rights deal until July 2024, but a source with knowledge of the agreement, who was not authorized to discuss the deal publicly, said the details were agreed upon before the start of the 2024 WNBA season, and before the announcement of the Toronto and Portland expansion teams. At a congressional hearing this May, Bill Koenig, the NBA's president of global content and media distribution, said the WNBA was mindful of the league's growth trajectory and put in provisions to reflect the league's upside. The WNBA can still sell additional media rights as part of its 'tranche 2' deals; it currently has deals with ION and CBS, for instance, and just extended its agreement with ION in June. There is also a revenue-sharing provision in the 'tranche 1' agreement, in which the WNBA would benefit incrementally if advertising revenue exceeds a certain level. Perhaps most importantly to the league's future revenue is an opportunity for the WNBA to initiate a 'look-in' provision in three years to increase the value of the agreement. But experts said it's still unclear how much renegotiated media rights deals would be worth. Leeds, the Temple professor, said that it is difficult to ascribe broadcast rights effects directly to a single player, because the negotiation involves a broader, multi-year package. Furthermore, while the WNBA's national regular-season ratings are comparable to those of major men's leagues and set records (or near records) on an almost weekly basis, WNBA playoff ratings still lag. 'Media value is not something that is particularly precise and calibrated to exactly what happens week-to-week, month-to-month or even year-to-year,' said Ed Desser, a longtime NBA employer who negotiated the WNBA's first media contract and is now an industry consultant. Advertisement Though the incoming media rights deal is a historic sum for the WNBA, the total figure is still only about five times the current deal and future increases via the look-in are unlikely to be massive. Even if all of the TV revenue were funneled into player salaries, the individual max would still be in the realm of $1.25 million. Thus, this source of revenue would still fall short of capturing the additional value Clark has brought the league. Cramer, the Harvard economist, hasn't modeled how much of the WNBA's economic growth can be attributed to Clark, but he said, 'Consider if there was an increase in the league over a 10-year horizon in the order of billions. If she's 25 percent of that, then that's how I would say she could have brought $750 million to the league.' He said she's made an even more significant impact on the economics of women's sports more broadly. 'I think her overall value to women's sports starts with a B,' Cramer said. 'It's in the billions for sure.' His insight draws on the significant increases in media rights and franchise valuations over the last few years, as Clark rose to prominence in college and now stars in the pros. All of this projection comes before Clark has played in an Olympics, made a deep postseason run, or even finished a season with a winning record. Clark will almost assuredly never receive in salary what she is worth to the WNBA. In that regard, she's a lot like Jordan, and other all-time greats across sports. Yet, no matter the challenge in quantifying her value, her impact is palpable. As Kosner, the former ESPN executive, put it, 'I think every commissioner in every sport wishes he or she had a Caitlin Clark.' (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Visual data: Thomas Oide / The Athletic; Photo of Caitlin Clark:)
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Indiana Fever React to Aliyah Boston's Postgame Comments on Saturday
Indiana Fever React to Aliyah Boston's Postgame Comments on Saturday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Indiana Fever, led by a star-studded core with Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, are widely regarded as the most popular team in the WNBA. Advertisement The addition of Clark last season brought a significant rise in fan attention, which has carried on to the 2025 season. Indiana played the Dallas Wings on Friday without Clark, who was ruled out with a groin injury. Despite Clark being sidelined, the Fever played in front of a reported 20,409 fans, the largest crowd recorded for a professional women's basketball game in Texas. After a 94-86 victory over the Wings, Boston commented on the crowd and the consistent support for the Fever. "Every game is a home game," Boston said. "I think you see that. People show up, they show out. I think it's great for this league, just people continuing to watch games. I think when people show up to watch a game, they might have came for one person, but they leave liking many more." Advertisement On Saturday, Indiana reposted a snippet of Boston's quote on social media, sharing their thoughts on the bold take: "FACTS." View the original article to see embedded media. In her second season with the Indiana Fever, Boston is averaging 15.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. She's looking to make yet another WNBA All-Star game, likely alongside Clark. Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston (7). Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images While much of the viewership credit likely lies with Caitlin Clark, she's been absent as of late. Clark has now missed seven games this season. During her first stint sidelined with Indiana, Clark was dealing with a quadriceps injury that kept her out of the lineup for five games. Advertisement She has missed back-to-back games and will likely be re-evaluated before the Fever's next game against the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday. Related: Stephanie White Reveals Good News for Caitlin Clark After Roster Decision Related: Dallas Wings Suffer Big Loss Before Indiana Fever Game This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 28, 2025, where it first appeared.
