Iowa's Caitlin Clark makes NIL history after becoming women's all-time leading scorer
There is no question Caitlin Clark is the face of college basketball.
The Iowa star became the NCAA women’s basketball all-time leading scorer last week. In vintage fashion, she hit a 3-pointer from the edge of the Hawkeye logo at center court to clinch the record. In a year when men’s basketball doesn’t have many recognizable stars, Clark has emerged as the sport’s star.
The Big Ten women’s basketball tourney is nearing sell-out status, even two weeks before the event begins. According to Yahoo!’s Dan Wetzel, fewer than 2,000 tickets across the seven sessions remain, which would make the first full sell-out of the event.
The impact of her success does not stop on the court. She became the Fanatics’ top-selling college athlete in the NIL Era last week after she surpassed Kelsey Plum’s scoring title. She passed the previous high seller, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
According to Fanatics, more Clark-branded merchandise was sold in less than 24 hours after she broke the record Thursday night than any other individual men’s or women’s NIL college athlete across all sports has sold since 2022 when NIL merchandise began.
One of the top sellers was Nike apparel with the phrase, “You break it, you own it.” The sneaker and sportswear giant released a graphic with the slogan after Clark broke the NCAA women’s scoring record and then released special merchandise with it. The Iowa guard’s name and number were on the back.
Fanatics Collectibles also released a commemorative, autographed Topps Now trading cards for Clark that celebrated the feat, which sold out in under 10 minutes. Clark’s Topps Now base card was among the top 10 Topps Now cards sold of all time across all sports, according to Fanatics. Fanatics purchased the trading card company for roughly $500 million in 2022.
“I came to Iowa with huge aspirations and now I’m getting to play in front of 15,000-plus every single night and that’s so cool,” Clark said earlier this season. “Those are moments that you really can only dream of and now I’m living it every single day of my life and that’s really special.”
Caitlin Clark effect stretches across college basketball
NBC streaming platform Peacock doubled down for Caitlin mania, offering fans the chance to watch a special alternate feed called the “Caitlin Cast presented by State Farm” when she passed the scoring record against Michigan.
Clark’s success has even had an impact on Iowa athletics. Expense disclosures to the NCAA showed the women’s basketball team brought in over $3.8 million in total revenue in 2022-23, more than double what it had raised in any prior recent year, according to Sportico.
She’s currently averaging 32.8 points and 8.5 assists, leading the nation in both categories. The Hawkeyes are second in the Big Ten with a 23-3 overall record and a 12-2 mark in the league. Clark continues to draw record-breaking crowds at home and on road trips this season, including 18,809 fans at Ohio State.
Repped by Excel Sports Management, she has inked NIL brand deals with State Farm, Gatorade and Hy-Vee. She’s seen her social media following soar from 1.1 million to more than 1.3 million followers since Thursday night.
The fourth-ranked team in the latest women’s AP top 25 poll, the Hawkeyes are currently predicted to be a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
With 3,569 career points, Clark is closing in on the men’s scoring record. Pete Maravich holds the men’s Division I scoring record with 3,667 points. She is just 99 points away with four games remaining.
Caitlin Clark could just be getting started.