The "Caitlin Clark Effect" is real.
Fever Land 92 Sponsors After Caitlin Clark, Yet Earnings Trail WNBA Rival originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Over the past couple of years, Caitlin Clark has transitioned smoothly from collegiate superstar to face of the WNBA.
At Iowa, she rewrote the NCAA record books, becoming the all-time Division I leading scorer (3 951 points) and the first player to lead men’s or women’s Division I in both points and assists in a season.
Drafted No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever in 2024, Clark posted 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game in her rookie year and earned Rookie of the Year and All-WNBA First Team honors.
Off the court, Clark has become a marketing magnet: Forbes named her to its "World’s 100 Most Powerful Women," citing Clark as the reason for driving 54 million viewers to ABC, NBC, ESPN and their cable peers to watch the WNBA's 2024 regular season.
On Thursday, SportsPro released data showing just how much brand power Clark has generated for the Fever and WNBA as a whole.
The report indicated that WNBA team sponsorship revenue climbed to a record US$76 million for the 2024 season, with the league averaging 44 deals per team, a 52% increase since 2022.
While Clark’s Fever led the league in partnership volume with 92 brand agreements, nearly double the league average, the Phoenix Mercury retained the top spot for sponsorship revenue.
This was thanks in large part to the drawing power of Diana Taurasi in her final contracted season and the franchise icon Brittney Griner, both of whom have since left the team.
All of this is to say that the WNBA’s commercial landscape is no longer an afterthought. As players negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement this fall, rising sponsorships and media deals strengthen their leverage for higher salaries.
Related: Lexie Hull Shares Honest Take on Playing Without Caitlin Clark
Related: New DeWanna Bonner Update Emerges After Release From Indiana Fever
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
