What is Caitlin Clark's Net Worth and Salary?
Caitlin Clark is an American professional basketball player who has a net worth of $5 million. Caitlin Clark was drafted as the #1 pick of the 2024 WNBS draft by the Indiana Fever. Before joining the WNBA, she was a star college basketball player at the University of Iowa, where she set numerous program, Big Ten, and NCAA Division I records and helped popularize women's basketball. Regarded as one of the greatest female collegiate players of all time, Clark stands as the all-time leading scorer in both men's and women's NCAA Division I basketball.
NIL Deals & Endorsements
Even before officially becoming a professional athlete, as a college student Caitlin Clark signed several endorsement deals with major brands, including Nike, State Farm, Gatorade, Hy-Vee, Bose, and H&R Block. She earned an estimated $3.1 million while still in college from so-called "NIL" deals (name, image & likeness).
Upon turning professional and being drafted, Caitlin signed a number of new endorsement deals. The most notable was an extension with Nike. Her Nike deal, which was announced on April 18, 2024, is worth an estimated $28 million over eight years. On an average annual basis, that's $3.5 million.
WNBA Salary
Clark's deal with the Fever is worth $338,056 over four seasons. Below is a breakdown of Caitlin Clark's WNBA salary per year between 2024 and 2027:
- 2024: $76,535
- 2025: $78,066
- 2026: $85,873
- 2027: $97,582
Early Life and High School
Caitlin Clark was born on January 22, 2002 in Des Moines, Iowa to Anne and Brent. She has an older brother named Blake and a younger brother named Colin. Clark began playing basketball when she was only five, and competed in boys' recreational leagues due to a scarcity of girls' leagues in her age group. An athletic child, she also played soccer, softball, volleyball, tennis, and golf. In sixth grade, Clark joined the Amateur Athletic Union basketball team All Iowa Attack; she would later help lead the team to victory in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League championship game.
As a teenager, Clark attended Dowling Catholic High School, where she played four years of varsity basketball under head coach Kristin Meyer. She made an immediate impression on the team, averaging 15.3 points and 4.7 assists as a freshman. Clark improved considerably in her sophomore year, averaging 27.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as Dowling finished with a 20-4 record. She continued to show her prowess as a junior, averaging 32.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and earning Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year honors. In her senior season at Dowling, Clark averaged 33.4 points and eight rebounds per game, and was again named Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year.
Collegiate Career
Having been recruited by a number of NCAA Division I basketball programs before she even started high school, Clark was considered a five-star recruit by the time she graduated from Dowling. She ultimately committed to the University of Iowa, where she played four seasons with the Hawkeyes women's basketball team from 2020 to 2024. In her freshman year, Clark led Division I with an average of 26.6 points per game, and was unanimously named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Moreover, she helped the Hawkeyes achieve a runner-up finish in the Big Ten tournament. Clark set numerous records as a freshman, including program freshman records for points and assists. She had another terrific season as a sophomore, when she became the fastest women's Big Ten player to reach 1,000 career points and the first women's player to lead Division I in scoring and assists in the same season. That season, the Hawkeyes won the Big Ten tournament and Clark was named Big Ten Player of the Year. In her junior season, Clark led the Hawkeyes to a second consecutive Big Ten tournament title, and was again named Big Ten Player of the Year. The Hawkeyes went on to advance to the NCAA tournament and all the way to the national championship game, a first for the women's program. Ultimately, the team lost the title to the LSU Tigers. However, Clark set numerous records in the tournament, including the scoring record for a single NCAA tournament, with 191 points. She won all the major national player of the year awards for her incredible season.
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Clark finished her collegiate career on a high note. Even before the start of her senior season in 2023-24, she was named preseason Big Ten Player of the Year and received unanimous AP preseason All-American honors. In November, she became the Hawkeyes' all-time leading scorer, and in December she reached 3,000 career points. By mid-February 2024, Clark had become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I women's basketball. The next month, she became the all-time leading scorer among both men's and women's players in NCAA Division I basketball history. Clark finished the regular season as the unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year as she once again led the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten tournament title. Back in the NCAA tournament, Clark and the Hawkeyes reached the national championship game for the second consecutive year. In the title game, she scored 18 points in the first quarter alone, which was the most points by a player in a single period in the history of the title game. Despite Clark's excellent performance, the Hawkeyes lost the championship to the South Carolina Gamecocks. Notably, the game was watched by around 18.7 million viewers, the largest-ever audience for a women's basketball game in the United States. Once again, Clark swept the table of all the major national player of the year awards. She left Iowa with the most career points (3,951) and three-pointers (548) in Division I history, and graduated with a degree in marketing.
WNBA Career
At the end of February in 2024, Clark announced that she would declare for the 2024 WNBA draft. In the draft, she was chosen with the first overall pick by the Indiana Fever.
National Team Career
Clark has played with the United States women's national basketball team on several occasions, starting with the junior national team. At the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Women's Americas Championship, she helped lead the team to gold. Clark and the junior national team won two more golds at the 2019 and 2021 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cups.
Personal Life
Clark is in a relationship with fellow Hawkeye athlete Connor McCaffery, the son of Hawkeyes men's basketball head coach Fran McCaffery.
