What is Caitlin Clark's true value to the WNBA?

Excel Sports Management agent Erin Kane, known for representing some of the biggest stars in women's sports, dropped a bombshell regarding one of her biggest clients-- Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.

Front Office Sports released a statement from Kane Wednesday in which the vice president of the women's division of Excel Sports expressed her true feelings when it comes to the WNBA's financial commitment to her client.

There is no denying Clark's impact when it comes to the league's financial gain. An economist at Indiana University Columbus estimates that Clark alone is responsible for roughly 27% of the league's economic activity in the 2024 season. That figure includes merchandise sales, ticket sales, and television viewership, among other factors.

The "Caitlin Clark Phenomenon" was apparent from the moment she stepped on the floor. The Indiana Fever, in 2023, averaged just over 4,000 tickets sold per game-- towards the bottom of the WNBA. With Clark in 2024, the Fever played in 36 of their 40 regular season games, both home and away, in front of sellout crowds.

Caitlin Clark's #22 jersey, in just the first year of her WNBA career, was the highest-selling piece of merchandise leaguewide.

Clark has also had a tremendous impact on the city of Indianapolis itself. That same economist estimates that Clark has generated upwards of $36 million for the Circle City in 2024 alone. In comparison, the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indy saw roughly $400 million generated for the event.

Clark is just one player-- and her impact represents nearly 10% of that figure by herself.

"I'm not surprised to her that," said Kane in an interview with ESPN. "Her impact is undeniable... The level of interest and growth, it's really amazing and special. It's been phenomenal for the entire league."

So what is Caitlin Clark's true value to the WNBA?

It all comes down to the money, in one way or another. But there are so many things at play when it comes to Clark's impact on women's basketball itself.

While Clark has been a household name in Iowa City since her freshman year in 2020, she began receiving the overwhelming national attention in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. ESPN started posting highlights of this talented junior from Iowa, showcasing Harden-like step backs and hitting Curry-like three-pointers. The public took a liking to this exciting style of play-- a style that was rarely seen in the women's game up until this point.

Sure, Sabrina Ionescu is lethal from beyond the arc. But the nation hadn't seen the female equivalent to Steph Curry-- someone who could combine elite, deep three-point shooting with the ability to create space off the dribble-- and that was the role that Clark filled.

But the reception was soon soured in the 2023 National Championship Game. From that moment on, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese became inextricably linked-- and women's college basketball became the nation's most-discussed sport for the next 12 months.

Clark, known for her "You Can't See Me" celebration inspired by WWE superstar John Cena, had received a ton of praise for her intense style of play. When Reese gave the gesture back to her when LSU defeated Iowa for the title, the media and social media alike branded Reese as "thuggish" and "classless."

It wasn't anything Clark did, nor Reese. It was the media's disparity in coverage between Black and White athletes that awoke a century-long dialogue regarding United States race relations. In a world just years removed from the tragedies of Alton Sterling, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, the Clark-Reese incident caused emotions to boil over and place the two among the most renowned personalities in the nation.

The nation was split. Some sided with Clark, while others viewed her as a symbol for white privilege.

As a result, Clark's senior season at Iowa had more eyeballs than any other season in women's basketball history. A season that saw her break the NCAA scoring record, win her second-straight Player of the Year award, and lead Iowa back to its second-straight national championship.

To paraphrase a quote from bowling legend Pete Weber: Whether you loved Clark or hated her, you watched. That's all you could do.

Clark rode that momentum to the WNBA Draft, where she was selected first overall by the Indiana Fever and brought her fanbase with her. The unprecedented jump in women's basketball interest forced the league to introduce charter flights for its teams. Arenas around the country were packed to watch the Fever play, especially at home in Indy.

New fans of the league were introduced to stars who had already established themselves. Players like Arike Ogunbowale, A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Napheesa Collier were finally getting the fame they rightly deserved from the years of hard work they put in.

The WNBA was nationally aired more in the 2024 season than ever before, making way for more fans. More fans means more endorsement deals, which means more money in the pockets of the players-- money that they have deserved for a long time, but money that did not exist due to the lack of public interest.

This brings us back to our original question: What is Clark's true value?

You can look at the dollars and cents and know exactly how "valuable" Caitlin Clark truly is. But her impact means more than that.

For decades, the stigma surrounding women's basketball-- and women's sports altogether-- is that it just isn't a good product. It doesn't make money, which must mean that it isn't as "good." But this past WNBA season, and the recent surge of women's college basketball, has completely disproven this fallacy.

The recent dip in NBA ratings also proves that the WNBA is on a completely different trajectory. While everyone, NBA players included, are expressing their displeasure with the NBA product, the WNBA is on the rise and shows no sign of slowing down.

Clark is not the only reason that this surge is occurring-- but she is the common denominator. At every phase of this women's basketball takeover, she has been at the epicenter for seismic change. She and Iowa have been a participant in four of the six highest-viewed women's college basketball games of all time, including the top three in 2024 alone. She and the Fever participated in the highest-viewed WNBA games ever on six different platforms-- ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS, ION, and NBA TV.

Clark's impact is more than financial. She is the first star that has broken through, aided by those who paved the way for her. Names like Maya Moore, Sheryl Swoopes, Diana Taurasi, and more recently Kelsey Plum-- these stars fought for equal pay and recognition and backed it up on the court. While they may not have received this attention from the start, they are getting it now-- in large part because of the attention Clark has brought to the game.

So how valuable is Caitlin Clark? The answer is simple:

She's invaluable.