Iowa's Caitlin Clark signs multi-year NIL deal with Gatorade
Caitlin Clark is back to making college basketball history.
The Iowa basketball star has become the second collegiate basketball player to sign an NIL deal with Gatorade, joining UConn guard Paige Bueckers. One of the most popular hydration drinks in sports, the brand has worked with Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Penn State running back Nick Singleton in recent months.
Gatorade now adds Clark, the reigning National Player of the Year in Women’s basketball. One of the most accomplished names in the college sports business space, the contract includes Gatorade to commit $22,000 to the Caitlin Clark Foundation.
Repped by Excel Sports Management, she signed a headline-making deal with State Farm in October. Clark became the first player in NCAA tournament history to record back-to-back 40-point games in last year’s tournament. So far this season she’s averaging 29.5 points and 7.4 assists.
Clark will appear in social media advertisements for Gatorade, which is owned by PepsiCo. Ironically, Coca-Cola has pouring rights at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and is an NCAA sponsor.
“At Gatorade, we take pride in our elite athlete roster and have had the privilege of fueling some of the greatest athletes of all time,” Global Head of Sports Marketing at Gatorade Jeff Kearney said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be a part of Caitlin’s journey to greatness early in her career and look forward to building upon the incredible impact she’s already made.”
Caitlin Clark continues to win in NIL
Caitlin Clark, who has NIL deals with Buick and Hy-Vee, has seen her social media following take off since last spring’s Final Four. After averaging 27.8 points last year, she now has more than a million followers. The point guard has 43 career double-doubles.
She signed with Nike in October as an obvious long-term play for the sportswear brand. The brand launched name and number tees and sweatshirts for the Iowa guard ahead of the NCAA tourney, one of the first moves by Nike to monetize her NIL outside of social media posts. She recently appeared in promotional material for the brand’s Nike Tech merchandise. Nike is also a sponsor of the WNBA.
Her value in the Iowa market only continues to rise, too. She held multiple skills camps this summer, which sold out in a matter of hours. Returning for another year opens up plenty of endorsement possibilities.
Caitlin Clark’s On3 NIL Valuation is now up to $777,000, a significant jump from last season. The valuation is No. 44 in the On3 NIL 100, which is the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.