How much money will Caitlin Clark make in the WNBA? The Iowa Hawkeyes guard’s future pro salary

Three months in and 2024 is already Caitlin Clark’s year. Last year, the 22-year-old Iowa Hawkeyes point guard became the first player in NCAA history to record back to back, 40-point games and she’s since gone from strength to strength.

Landmark season

Back in January, she became the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer (her record currently stands at 3,859 in just 136 games) to break Kelsey Mitchell’s all-time Big Ten scoring record. Last week, in Iowa’s 64-54 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers, she fired in 32 points to bring her season’s tally to 1113 points and counting… edging past Kelsey Plum’s six-year record for the most points in one single D1 season in the process.

Caitlin Clark decides to go pro

Clark could have stayed in NCAA for another year but instead she has opted to enter the 2024 WNBA Draft where she will be the No.1 pick and most likely to join the Indiana Fever. “While this season is far from over and we have a lot more goals to achieve, it will be my last one at Iowa,” she announced on X at the end of February. “I am excited to be entering the 2024 WNBA Draft”.

Just for being among the top four picks, Caitlin will earn an annual salary of $76,535 in her first year. That will rise to $78,066 in her second year and $85,873 in her third year. Should she stay on for a fourth year, her salary will rise again to $97,952. While that might not seem like a very big amount, she will be able to top that up with a number of sponsorship and endorsement deals.

After five years in WNBA, Clark will be able to negotiate a supermax salary which currently stands at $241,984 but will likely be over $250,000 by the time she is eligible in 2029. She will undoubtedly have the chance to sign up for one the player marketing agreement programs set up by the WNBA. Players can make up to $250,000 each as brand ambassadors for both the league and for its many partners which currently include Skims, PlayStation, Continental Tire, Google, Meta and beauty brand Mielle.

NIL deals: another source of income

Caitlin has already signed up for a host of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) endorsement deals through her agents Excel Sports Management. Among the contracts are deals with Nike, Topps, Bose, The Vinyl Shop, Goldman Sachs and Buick among others.

Broadly speaking, the average income from NIL deals for student-athletes ranges from $1,000 to $10,000. However, there have been cases where athletes have earned much more than that. All of those cases were directly tied to the sport in question, the projected success of the athlete, the social media following… etc.

For example, USC Trojans freshman Bronny James, Lebron James’ son, who played his first college basketball game in December. Dad’s influence helps here, but the fact that his NIL valuation is at $7.5 million is a case in point. In Caitlin’s case, she will certainly be able to multiply her salary significantly with a host of lucrative NIL arrangements.