picture this you're a star athlete you've been recognized as one of the world's most influential and marketable sports figures you drove a 170% league-wide viewership increase in your rookie season and you account for over a quarter of your League's economic activity and you make $50,000 less than the car wash manager at bies listen this is no shade at bies I love a car wash and brisket sandwich as much as the next guy but when you're single-handedly transforming a professional Sports League that kind of salary doesn't make much sense and this is the reality for Caitlyn Clark this year she'll take home around $78,000 with the Indiana Fever yes I know she has endorsements she's not hurting for cash but her agents comments about her salary have sparked a debate about her True Value to the WNBA and how the league will never ever be able to pay her what she's worth Clark thought about pulling up from three will dip inside and lay it in CLK step back three knocks it down now this has everyone debating and attempting to quantify Caitlyn's value and I'll get to that in this video because well I did the math and it's insane but here's the bigger question based on how Caitlyn has been treated even if the WNBA could pay Caitlyn her worth would they with all the effort from the media and ex players to diminish Caitlyn's impact and with complaints from fans about how sponsors like Nike players and even team owners go out of their way to make the League's success about more than just one player you got to wonder if Caitlyn the Catalyst for the rise in the wnba's popularity and the player who is undoubtedly and with very little thanks I might add creating a better financial situation for every WNBA player will ever be appropriately recognized financially I'm going to dig into it and I think after watching this you're going to have a greater appreciation for not just what Caitlyn is accomplishing but for her long game and ability to see the entire playing field because based on the math well you'll see the numbers are insane but first tell me in the comments how much Caitlyn should be paid it'll be interesting to see what everyone thinks and if I'm close or way off okay so Caitlyn Clark's agent Aaron Kaine got everyone talking about how women are paid in sports particularly her client in a recent interview she said will Caitlyn Clark ever be paid by the WNBA what she's really worth to that League I think that's possible now on the surface that would be the last thing I'd want my agent to say I mean Caitlyn's only heading into her second season and already her agent saying she will never be compensated fairly but wait there's more she went on to say that Caitlyn should be recognized for what she's done for the league from an economic perspective and that all players should be paid more now she kind of has to say that last part about increasing pay for all players because she represents other WNBA players but it also benefits Caitlyn for that to happen I'll explain why in a bit but I think we can all agree that Caitlyn's current pay situation is well ridiculous Clark is set to make around $78,000 this season you don't have to be a sports agent or mathwiz to know there's absolutely no way that's in the ballpark of what she's worth but that begs the question what is Caitlyn Clark really worth to understand this let's take a step back wheeler finds CLK from the logo you six on the shot clock Clark a deep three so while League brass and ex players who want credit for the League's recent success won't admit it the WNBA was floundering before Caitlyn Clark burst onto the scene that's my polite way of saying it was hemorrhaging money like crazy since 1996 they've been losing an average of more than $10 million every year that's nearly three decades of bleeding cash the only reason the league survived was because it was heavily subsidized by the NBA which owns 60% of it even more when you look at individual owner contributions NBA Commissioner Adam Silver even had to admit that the WNBA hasn't provided any returns for NBA owners many investors are wondering if they'll ever see a return I mean it's kind of like having a child who goes to college for 7 years like stop messing around and make some money anyway the league was desperate for a game Game Changer someone who could turn heads fill seats and make people sit up and take notice they needed a star so bright she could outshine all the doubters and naysayers who claimed the WNBA would never stand on its own two feet and then everything changed enter Caitlyn Clark The Human Highlight Reel to shoot going to have to make something happen Clark through the lane reverses it in game Richards on the floor Clark the step back three just below the logo drills it she wasn't just good she was rewriting the record books and making jaws drop with every game suddenly people who had never given women's basketball a Second Glance were tuning in just to see what Clark would do next her rookie season was nothing short of revolutionary she didn't just earn Rookie of the Year honors she transformed the entire league picture this the Indiana Fever once the wnba's seller dwellers suddenly found themselves in the playoffs it's a complete 180 rags to Rich's story speaking of Rags to Riches that's just the beginning of Caitlyn's impact her arrival sent viewership numbers through the roof we're talking about a mind-blowing 170% increase the 2024 season became the most watched in WNBA history with Clark's fever contributing 45% of the League's broadcast value and let's talk merchandise Clark's impact on sales is off the charts league-wide merchandise sales shot up by 450% during the 2024 season that's not a type 450% it's like everything Clark touched turned to gold from boosting ticket sales to driving merchandise Revenue her impact is felt in every aspect of the wnba's business it's like she walked in and flipped a switch turning the league from something you'd watch in passing on espn8 the oo into a mainstream success I hate to use this quote because it's by Russian dictator Vladimir Lenin but it makes perfect sense there are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen Caitlyn did in one year what thousands of players couldn't in decades make the WNBA mainstream and marketable so you'd think the WNBA would be backing up the Brinks truck right you'd assume they'd be falling over themselves to compensate the player who's single-handedly transforming their league well not so fast the Caitlin Clark phenomenon how do you describe it she's clearly an unbelievable player came in with an unbelievable following has brought a lot of new fans to the league if you look at our historic season around uh our attendance our viewership the wnba's current salary structure is like a straight jacket limiting potential and squeezing players earnings the highest paid players in the league are pulling in around $250,000 but if you're a rookie your max is much much lower the fever signed Caitlyn to a rookie Max contract which paid her $6,550 in 2024 now let's put this in perspective the average NBA salary is nearly $1 million with rookie contracts in the multi-million dollar range yes we all know the NBA generates a lot more Revenue but there's an other issue hampering the wnba's ability to pay Revenue sharing the wnba's revenue has doubled since 2019 growing from $12 to $200 million you'd think that would mean bigger paychecks right wrong thanks to the League's current Revenue sharing model players are only getting 99. 3% of total League revenue for comparison players in the NBA NFL and NHL get between 48% and 51% of Revenue it's like the WNBA is handing out crumbs while other leagues are serving up the whole Bakery well that's about to change the W thinks that they don't have to pay us more in order for us to be here the WNBA is gearing up for a new media rights deal in 2026 and it's a GameChanger we're looking at a potential $2. 2 billion over 11 years can you believe it this massive jump from the current $60 million annually could reshape the entire landscape of women's basketball because of this windfall the WNBA players union has already opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement they're pushing for better salaries and revenue sharing across the board this could lead to some tense negotiations and possibly even a work stoppage if things don't improve by the end of the 2025 season experts are weighing in too Andrew Zimbalist a sports economist IST suggests that WNBA players should be aiming for a 50% split of League revenues that's a significant jump from where they are now but given the League's growth and Newfound popularity it's not unreasonable so yeah WNBA players are going to get a significant pay bump but even with these changes will Caitlyn get paid what she's truly Worth to the League this is where the numbers get ridiculous and everyone in the WNBA should have a huge appreciation for what Caitlyn is doing so she stepped into the lead and viewership increased 170% that is a 2.
7x increase so nearly triple into a ball screen Clark yes a new career Hive for Caitlyn CLK and 45% of broadcast value was generated by fever games the fever weren't mustsee TV before Caitlyn so you can't argue this is normal or expected that's one player driving nearly half of the League's value and then you have this it's been estimated that she was responsible for nearly 27% of the wnba's economy in 2024 and then there's the new media rights deal which is more than three times more valuable than their current Arrangement and even if some don't want to give Caitlyn all the credit because people love to do that her economic impact and influence on broadcast value clearly played a huge role in what the WNBA was able to negotiate so what is Caitlyn worth here's a starting starting point the league-wide salary cap all teams added together is $19. 6 million at the bare minimum Caitlyn is worth around 27% of that because she accounted for around 27% of Revenue that would put her at 5. 2 million in yearly salary but if we're being real considering she's driving half the League's broadcast value which likely helped them negotiate $140 million more per year in media rights You could argue she's worth $10 million or much more under the current BBA to put that in perspective fun I would recommend it 100% the fever not only hold the attendance record at both home and away games this year but the merchandise sales are through the roof with jersey sales seeing a 1200% increase and the top seller is number 22 there are 140ish other players in the league even at a $5.
