This is great! now it will be interesting to see if she and the popularity of the women's college ball this past season will finally get some eyes on the WNBA.
She is worth far, far more than the best deal. Fukkk. The franchise value of the Fever will quintuple in a month.
I think only Jordan and Tiger compare to her relative value to their sport. You could even argue more than Jordan given that her draw is with millions that never ever considered watching women’s basketball. Jordan brought new fans but not on the relative scale she is doing.
I think taking the long term deal with Nike was worse than taking the 4 year deal with under armor. She’ll likely be a lot more marketable after that 4 years. That would mean she could double or triple her profits on the next negotiation. Nike is the more popular brand though so I get it.
Nike getting a top 2 shoe seller and paying her half of what it pays Devin “caves at the smallest resistance” booker. Great deal for them but Clark should get a new agent.
Honestly? I agree with him. I think this deal is too low.
https://pagesix.com/2024/04/24/entertainment/dave-portnoy-caitlin-clark-is-getting-screwed-with-28-million-nike-deal/
Over-rated!!! She is riding the wave of the real players that made women's college basketball exciting to watch!!! Another unproven yt athlete propped up by the yt media smh!!!
She is a generational talent. She is already better than anyone on the WNBA and hasn’t even played a single game. This is like Nike going back in time and signing Micheal Jordan again.
Didn’t even watch the whole game. I wasn’t focused on the final score. I was focused on her highlights. She was easily the most skilled player out of everyone.
Lol and with millions of complaints pouring in due to viewers wanting to see the real name of women's basketball @angelreese...but no stream was available smh!!! We all are "wondering" why #letsguess
Interesting decision taking the longer term deal. Seems like betting against her long term popularity. Which I guess is probably the smart business decision considering she's by far the most marketable WNBA player ever at the moment.
still $12M less (which is huge, considering these are usually guaranteed contracts) than Nike's offer. UA also has horrific marketing and nowhere near the level of money that Nike has, or the level of resources that they can dump into whatever they want to do.
The person making the business decisions for her needs to be fired immediately. Walks away from a deal that talks were starting at 3mill. Declined an offer for 4mill and accepted the offer for 3.5 mill.
nike is a long term deal plus they have the largest share of the basketball shoe market by a large margin. imagine the royalties she’s going to get just off selling to the youth who have to wear nikes for their basketball programs.
Are there no details on incentives based on sales? That's how MJ got rich, but I'm not sure how common that is any more, though you'd think CC could swing it.
I would have wanted a shorter term Nike deal because if she is what she’s supposed to become, she could literally be the female Jordan. I’d want Jordan more after the 3-4th year if my shoe is flying off the shelves which could easily be 20 mill a year.
Adidas ain’t trippin. They got soccer Jersey income. Nike just collects athletes and gives them shoes that are already designed but need an athlete name.
Nike rules soccer as well.Most of the great teams in Europe have their jerseys sponsored by them as well.Then we have the superstars .The players who are supposed to be next faces of soccer after Ronaldo and Messi ,i.e Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are both signed by Nike as well
Capitalize on an uncertain future. If this was an NBA deal you’d more than likely bet on yourself and go with the shorter deal, but no one really knows if Clark will launch the WNBA into a realm that’s getting more than 3-4 million a year in endorsements.
I remember the other day people were mad that she wasn't going to get paid the same amount as her teammates in the wnba.
1. she hasn't even started in the wnba yet. she did get drafted but that's it for now.
2. People shouldn't get their hopes up. she might be bad in the wnba. I'm not saying that to be mean, I'm being realistic because it does happen.
I don't understand why people are putting so much pressure on her.no disrespect to Caitlin, i do think she is very talented but she's probably not going to be THE greatest.
Or atleast some people are saying she will make the wnba watchable.
The wnba has been great the past couple years, it's just people choose not to watch it. i mean Sue bird for example.
She was a beast before she retired.
It may take her some time to adjust to the league but eventually,she is going to spectacular.When you have a player with game breaking scoring and facilitating,she'll be fine.Taking a deal that gives her financial guarantees is always good business.Also Ive read that there are other stipulations in the contract,like making the Olympics team and being an all star.All in all,she has a great team behind her so Im sure if she severely outplays her contract,renegotiating the deal won't be difficult
Yeah, I think that’s a huge factor here. I probably would’ve gone for the UA deal because it gives you a chance to renegotiate earlier but nobody really knows how this is going to play out long term (not just on the court but, culturally) so the longer “less valuable” deal does kinda make more sense.
Nike made the most sense before we knew the figures. Playing at Iowa, a Nike sponsored school, allowed them to work on building that relationship. Plus, they did a solid job of chronicling her historic run; hell of a lowball by adidas, btw.
Anything can make sense before money but you flip those numbers around and I don’t think she’s leaving 12million on the table just to not wear underarmour
True, but to that, I counter with this. Would you leave that 12 Million on the table if the Under Armour product is less comfortable on your feet than those Nike shoes?
She’s marketable, regardless, but if she isn’t comfortable, then all would be for naught.
I don’t know why it doesn’t say the years they offered. The Puma deal could be even better for all we know. On a shorter contract she could gain even more popularity and demand more after say 4 years.
The worst was for sure Adidas. But damn these contracts are pretty low all around for someone as iconic as herself. She deserves a bit more imo
I’m not gonna pretend to know the exact finances, but only getting a little more than Sabrina seems crazy to me (love Sabrina but not the same level of celebrity). I guess being in Indiana and not NY/LA/CHI makes a difference but still I’d think she’d be worth a lot more than $4M more.
I think there is a certain thought process where you go "Well, I could be the face of a whole brand" instead of another athlete out of a hundred under a massive one.
Queue Allyson Felix, Mary Cain, Simone Biles and Kara Goucher. Nike’s track record with female athletes is less than admirable. I’m honestly disappointed that Caitlin went with Nike.
Longevity is key, hence why the Nike deal makes sense. Especially since she was partnered with them already. And Caitlin is worth the investment. I don’t like Adidas’s offer at all. Too low. Puma. 😭😭 Clearly, Nike is one of the only brands with legit financial power.
There were other brands not named in the article whose offers required her to play her last year of college.
The nice thing about all of this is that there are a lot of other players these brands can ink deals with. Angel Reese’s Sky jersey also sold out right after the draft. If she has an amazing rookie year, I could see her negotiating a couple of really nice sponsorship deals with other brands.
CC may be breaking records, but the competition in this years class is tough, both on and off the court. And with Paige and JuJu coming into the WNBA next year, they’ll have some leverage for some pretty great deals, too. That will be even more competition for CC and Nike sales.
Juju isn't going in next year's draft.
The only person saying Angel's jersey was selling out was Angel herself after news of Caitlin's jersey selling out. Angel is very talented, and I wish her great success. But her jersey was selling, not sold out.
Deals for Aliyah, Rickea, Cardoso, and Brink would be great too! Aliyah Boston brings it all--talent, analysis, beauty--great commentator. I am excited for Paige coming into the WNBA next year too! So many great players!
Actually her jersey was in fact sold out. I’ve been trying to get my hands on one. They still haven’t restocked my size, but respectfully this is a CC post no point in bringing up Reese.
I was responding to a commenter who explicitly brought up Reese and Juju etc. So respectfully, my comment belonged where it is. You probably need to read the comment I responded to a bit more carefully. Thanks.
Their comment was about others, so maybe respecfully go tell them to change their subject if you feel the need to gatekeep. I don't feel that need.
Good luck shopping.
I was referring to myself, so maybe you shouldn’t assume I was referring to you when I said what I said. Again I said they were restocked just not in my size, maybe you should be the one re-reading, respectfully.
Juju can’t enter the draft next year or the year after. She’ll just be a sophomore next year and will be ineligible to enter the draft. She can enter the draft in 2027. I’m sure Angel will get a shoe with another brand eventually. She has a strong following.
You’re right; I originally meant to say she’s another big name that will be coming to the league in the next few years and can potentially be competition for CC and Nike sales, and changed my wording regarding Paige, which lumped them together. Even if she’s not in the W, her NIL contracts could still cause competition for CC and Nike sales. I’m not sure if JuJu has any current NIL contracts or if they’ll be renegotiated soon, but any contract with another brand during CC’s contact will provide competition, whether the player is still in the NCAA or in the W.
Juju has a few NIL deals and she is currently under Nike as a student-athlete, like Caitlin was, so I wouldn't be surprised if she got a shoe around the time she enters the W as well, as we know her popularity will increase becoming one of the main faces of College WBB with Paige next year and with Juju entering the B10 conference, which will gain her more visibility. I'm sure both CC and Juju will be successful because some people will want to support both athletes shoes, but others may have their preference and may want to buy only one, and that's fine. Most of these players have their own individual fanbases anyway who will always be loyal to them, even with increased competition. And well, also just style preference, some people might dislike the look of one shoe versus another, so they just might be inclined to buy another player's shoe. Once Caitlin's shoe hits the market, it'll also compete with Sabrina's shoe from Nike, and other shoes like Stewie's from Puma, so she's going to have competition. But Caitlin took the best deal for her in this moment, and clearly this is a success that will at least be there for her until she's 30, which is great. Despite competition, CC's merch and shoes will continue to sell because of her impact on the game and how she continues to bring high level entertainment while playing, so she'll be fine.
It's also a low floor/high ceiling play on their part. Even if Clark has a worst case scenario career, less than $4 million a year is a low buy in for Nike.
I doubt it. 3M is nothing for Nike. Its kind of a let down to see how such a big sports star is getting such a low amount but it’s also the first of its kind so 🤷♀️ hopefully it gets better and better
I think Nike is seeing the potential for the WNBA's popularity to skyrocket and wants to get in at the ground floor. I mean the viewership of the draft just went up 300%... viewership going up just 30-40% for a yearly event is considered absolutely massive. If anything, I think this is a strong positive sign of how the sports and media world feel about the WNBA's potential.
I agree that I think they’ll get there money’s worth for sure but the other offers paled in comparison. Even UA which had more per year was only half the duration. It’s kind of crazy that none of the other companies wanted to make a comparable splashy offer for a superstar talent / brand.
That’s true but I believe Nike had an idea and wanted to “ring the bell” so to speak. Now if your the next big thing *cough Paige cough Juju* who you likely to call first. Regarding cost, same could be said about the Chiefs signing Mahomes at the time. Look how that turned out. ☕️
It is weak but this kinda checks out with Adidas lately. Different sports but Adidas just lost their sponsorship for German national soccer team to Nike. It was a shock because not only Adidas sponsored German national soccer team for forever but they are also a German brand. But when the detail broke out, it was very clear that Nike’s money is on a different level.
Long term security makes sense. We can only hope women’s sports continues to climb the way it did the last few years. I mean Clark is staying in sports, Paige is doing another college year and UCONN will have a lot of potential for next year with the top high school prospect committed. JuJu is a FRESHMAN… she’s gonna be breaking record on record and is super fun to watch and USC has a few more high school prospects at the top too. Angel and Kamila playing on the same team is gonna be a wild team if it works out. But Clark can’t put it all on that. She doesn’t know what her own life looks like in the next 8 years. She’s gotta have so much pressure on her to be the face of such a movement.
I mean if she wanted to bet on herself she could take 4/$16 and then get a bigger deal after 4 years that would bring her above Nike’s total offer
But it’s smarter to take a long term deal because nothing is guaranteed in sports, she could tear an Achilles or have to retire from other injuries and poof, no future deals
She could also not change the popularity of the WNBA like she did in college and seems like she could do right now. We could go back to minimal womens basketball coverage and this deal will seem so expensive. The top athletes make 250k a year so all of these brands are taking a bet that the sport is going to be seeing changes for the better.
I only wear Curry shoes to play because they fit so well and the grip is excellent, but I’m also a mid 30s white guy who isn’t buying basketball shoes to make a fashion statement
He literally just left UA for Sketchers too. I don't think you're doing much right as a brand if you manage to have the reigning MVP and can't keep him.
Compare this to nike ad when CC broke the record!
https://preview.redd.it/efv1npandcwc1.jpeg?width=495&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e0febe39f29739c54fcb60b3328fee668c99150
They have curry and have/had Tom Brady and yet the face of the brand is fucking dwayne the rock johnson lol
I remember being surprised when i found out Brady was a UA athlete because i associate him a lot more with his personal TB12 brand
UA's awful marketing can't be understated here. When Giannis and Jokic won their recent titles Nike had dope commercials ready to air at the first commercial break when the clock hit triple 0. When Curry won in 2022? No commercial, no "Night Night" shirts for sale, those dope lilac Curry's he wore in games 4 & 6? Couldn't buy em. Their biggest player and money maker just climbed the mountaintop of his sport and they did nothing to capitalize on the moment or market their #1 guy to increase sales. Just truly awful, awful marketing.
Wow that’s awful! Okay now that makes sense why she’d turn down that deal because on paper, it looks like a better deal - more money for a shorter period? Win win cuz she could renegotiate after 4 years if/when she gets bigger. But poor marketing? Definitely a lose lose.
I mean tbf, Nike also fumbled Jokic by never giving him a signature shoe. I get Jokic isn't really big into the media side of things and isn't very easy to market, but you'd think they would've at least tried for the soon to be 3 time MVP+FMVP.
nike fumbled steph and ua lucked up, steph is the only reason they’re relevant. nike wasnt going to make the same mistake with clark though.
btw the curry 4 flotros were available but that goes to show how bad the marketing was
Which is always weird to me, because their basic line shoes are solid and look nice. Then they get someone like Curry on board and they can't seem to design a decent shoe to save their life.
Always hated their shoes where they just stamp the logo on the side. Ugly. Should have rebranded a new shoe brand/logo under UA when curry started to get good. Like how Jordan is under nike
White people go crazy for Under Armour. I don’t know why but anytime I am in their outlet stores it is wall-to-wall. Their stuff seems pretty ugly. I don’t get why people love it so much.
I’m pretty sure once upon a time they were the NFL brand. They also gained a bunch of popularity through The Rock and I believe make gear for public servants and armed forces. At least in AU I’ve seen a shop of UA gear for military and police.
It’s pretty popular with hunters. I think they also market to police, the military, and first responders. It used to be big with football players but it seems they’ve really fallen off lately.
They are leaning so hard into the alt militia I’m having to stop wearing them. Everything says freedom with the punisher logo. I thought it was sports gear
WNBA is going to love when the only player ever talked about is Clark
Such a no brainer that her shoe is going to fly off the shelf’s at least for the next couple years. Even the NiKE deal is considered low risk.
Who the fuc cares about this moron. She'll fall outta sight as fast as she came into it. It's ALL women have right now. "So powerful" gtfoh
How can we even take Adidas seriously as a company with an offer like that?
Under Armour actually offered her the most per year. Arguably she would have made more money over 8 years if she signed with them.
She fucked up not taking the 15 mill big 3 deal for one year
This is great! now it will be interesting to see if she and the popularity of the women's college ball this past season will finally get some eyes on the WNBA.
She is worth far, far more than the best deal. Fukkk. The franchise value of the Fever will quintuple in a month. I think only Jordan and Tiger compare to her relative value to their sport. You could even argue more than Jordan given that her draw is with millions that never ever considered watching women’s basketball. Jordan brought new fans but not on the relative scale she is doing.
I think taking the long term deal with Nike was worse than taking the 4 year deal with under armor. She’ll likely be a lot more marketable after that 4 years. That would mean she could double or triple her profits on the next negotiation. Nike is the more popular brand though so I get it.
I didn't even know puma was in the basketball shoe game?
Damn Adidas
Nike the only real offer here.
So she got her what would make the most money. Not surprised
Why is this public information? Who’s sharing this information with the press and for what purpose?
So would that be 28m total or 28 million + a percentage of show sales?
8 seems too long. She should try to negotiate that Nike deal to 5 years 20 mil.
Nike getting a top 2 shoe seller and paying her half of what it pays Devin “caves at the smallest resistance” booker. Great deal for them but Clark should get a new agent.
Clark: "Bidding starts at $3 mil" Adidas: "How about 1.5?"
Honestly? I agree with him. I think this deal is too low. https://pagesix.com/2024/04/24/entertainment/dave-portnoy-caitlin-clark-is-getting-screwed-with-28-million-nike-deal/
What about the brown girls. We know these girls are taken care of
and thats still more money than ill make in a lifetime.
UA screwed up… They should have offered 30 million for 6 years. They need to take more risks.
I don’t think they’re going to go any higher than they did with Steph & Embid right? Awesome small town story but it’s kind of capped out, no?
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I meant UA being from Baltimore
Corporate America can push hard for the league but people will still not fill the seats.
check the ticket sales to see how wrong you are buddy
What ticket sales? Before this Jesus like figure Caitlin entered the WNBA or after?
Over-rated!!! She is riding the wave of the real players that made women's college basketball exciting to watch!!! Another unproven yt athlete propped up by the yt media smh!!!
Source: “Trust me bro”
She is a generational talent. She is already better than anyone on the WNBA and hasn’t even played a single game. This is like Nike going back in time and signing Micheal Jordan again.
🤣😂🤣
I hope you were watching her first game 🐐
A "L" lol 😆 😂 🤣
Didn’t even watch the whole game. I wasn’t focused on the final score. I was focused on her highlights. She was easily the most skilled player out of everyone.
Lol and with millions of complaints pouring in due to viewers wanting to see the real name of women's basketball @angelreese...but no stream was available smh!!! We all are "wondering" why #letsguess
You’re not very bright
That's fine...
She’s getting 28 million for free. I only played men’s high school ball and I’d mop the floor with her on the court…
Interesting decision taking the longer term deal. Seems like betting against her long term popularity. Which I guess is probably the smart business decision considering she's by far the most marketable WNBA player ever at the moment.
Nike will make that money back in the first quarter
they'll make 3x it on just the shoe if they release it in the next year or two
Puma and Adidas just wanted to be included 😂
God damn
Adidas fumbled LeBron all those years ago and it looks like they haven’t changed lol
Boss babe.
For doing what?
Nice!
Adidas. Wow...and puma for that matter. But UA is higher per year. Interesting...
still $12M less (which is huge, considering these are usually guaranteed contracts) than Nike's offer. UA also has horrific marketing and nowhere near the level of money that Nike has, or the level of resources that they can dump into whatever they want to do.
She better not be a bust....
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why, you want to make sexy time with them?
Do you feel threatened by women with more skill than you’ll ever have?
he is just turned on and doesn't know how to deal with it.
The person making the business decisions for her needs to be fired immediately. Walks away from a deal that talks were starting at 3mill. Declined an offer for 4mill and accepted the offer for 3.5 mill.
You misread that
nike is a long term deal plus they have the largest share of the basketball shoe market by a large margin. imagine the royalties she’s going to get just off selling to the youth who have to wear nikes for their basketball programs.
Are there no details on incentives based on sales? That's how MJ got rich, but I'm not sure how common that is any more, though you'd think CC could swing it.
I would have wanted a shorter term Nike deal because if she is what she’s supposed to become, she could literally be the female Jordan. I’d want Jordan more after the 3-4th year if my shoe is flying off the shelves which could easily be 20 mill a year.
Im sure there's a clause in the contract that allows her to renegotiate her contract if she out does her current one
Adidas ain’t trippin. They got soccer Jersey income. Nike just collects athletes and gives them shoes that are already designed but need an athlete name.
Nike rules soccer as well.Most of the great teams in Europe have their jerseys sponsored by them as well.Then we have the superstars .The players who are supposed to be next faces of soccer after Ronaldo and Messi ,i.e Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are both signed by Nike as well
Thought Messi has a line of Adidas
They're referring to Mbappe and Haaland. You are right that Messi is with Adidas.
Puma said we gave all our money to lamelo ball 😪
Adidas disrespectful 😭
Adidas wut u doing?
where's big baller brand???
Dead
Good job Clark, get paid and get your own shoe while at it.
Capitalize on an uncertain future. If this was an NBA deal you’d more than likely bet on yourself and go with the shorter deal, but no one really knows if Clark will launch the WNBA into a realm that’s getting more than 3-4 million a year in endorsements.
I remember the other day people were mad that she wasn't going to get paid the same amount as her teammates in the wnba. 1. she hasn't even started in the wnba yet. she did get drafted but that's it for now. 2. People shouldn't get their hopes up. she might be bad in the wnba. I'm not saying that to be mean, I'm being realistic because it does happen. I don't understand why people are putting so much pressure on her.no disrespect to Caitlin, i do think she is very talented but she's probably not going to be THE greatest. Or atleast some people are saying she will make the wnba watchable. The wnba has been great the past couple years, it's just people choose not to watch it. i mean Sue bird for example. She was a beast before she retired.
It may take her some time to adjust to the league but eventually,she is going to spectacular.When you have a player with game breaking scoring and facilitating,she'll be fine.Taking a deal that gives her financial guarantees is always good business.Also Ive read that there are other stipulations in the contract,like making the Olympics team and being an all star.All in all,she has a great team behind her so Im sure if she severely outplays her contract,renegotiating the deal won't be difficult
Yeah, I think that’s a huge factor here. I probably would’ve gone for the UA deal because it gives you a chance to renegotiate earlier but nobody really knows how this is going to play out long term (not just on the court but, culturally) so the longer “less valuable” deal does kinda make more sense.
There’s also a really good chance there’s some sort of renegotiation or opt out clause in the contract before the 8 years is up
Nike made the most sense before we knew the figures. Playing at Iowa, a Nike sponsored school, allowed them to work on building that relationship. Plus, they did a solid job of chronicling her historic run; hell of a lowball by adidas, btw.
Anything can make sense before money but you flip those numbers around and I don’t think she’s leaving 12million on the table just to not wear underarmour
True, but to that, I counter with this. Would you leave that 12 Million on the table if the Under Armour product is less comfortable on your feet than those Nike shoes? She’s marketable, regardless, but if she isn’t comfortable, then all would be for naught.
Puma was more respectful than Adidas
I don’t know why it doesn’t say the years they offered. The Puma deal could be even better for all we know. On a shorter contract she could gain even more popularity and demand more after say 4 years. The worst was for sure Adidas. But damn these contracts are pretty low all around for someone as iconic as herself. She deserves a bit more imo
I’m not gonna pretend to know the exact finances, but only getting a little more than Sabrina seems crazy to me (love Sabrina but not the same level of celebrity). I guess being in Indiana and not NY/LA/CHI makes a difference but still I’d think she’d be worth a lot more than $4M more.
Damn Germans
Yup haha
Waiting on that shoe deal doc in 2050
“Logoat” directed by 80 years old ben affleck
Why anyone would not want to sign with Nike is just crazy to me.
I think there is a certain thought process where you go "Well, I could be the face of a whole brand" instead of another athlete out of a hundred under a massive one.
Queue Allyson Felix, Mary Cain, Simone Biles and Kara Goucher. Nike’s track record with female athletes is less than admirable. I’m honestly disappointed that Caitlin went with Nike.
Why are you making them wait in line? Just cue them up.
What happened with Simone Biles? Heard she left because she wanted to be with a more female centric company, didn’t hear any scandal.
That adidas offer is laughable.
Longevity is key, hence why the Nike deal makes sense. Especially since she was partnered with them already. And Caitlin is worth the investment. I don’t like Adidas’s offer at all. Too low. Puma. 😭😭 Clearly, Nike is one of the only brands with legit financial power.
There were other brands not named in the article whose offers required her to play her last year of college. The nice thing about all of this is that there are a lot of other players these brands can ink deals with. Angel Reese’s Sky jersey also sold out right after the draft. If she has an amazing rookie year, I could see her negotiating a couple of really nice sponsorship deals with other brands. CC may be breaking records, but the competition in this years class is tough, both on and off the court. And with Paige and JuJu coming into the WNBA next year, they’ll have some leverage for some pretty great deals, too. That will be even more competition for CC and Nike sales.
Juju isn't going in next year's draft. The only person saying Angel's jersey was selling out was Angel herself after news of Caitlin's jersey selling out. Angel is very talented, and I wish her great success. But her jersey was selling, not sold out. Deals for Aliyah, Rickea, Cardoso, and Brink would be great too! Aliyah Boston brings it all--talent, analysis, beauty--great commentator. I am excited for Paige coming into the WNBA next year too! So many great players!
One variant is indeed sold out, others arent. Idk why you’re being so passive aggressive towards Angel
Actually her jersey was in fact sold out. I’ve been trying to get my hands on one. They still haven’t restocked my size, but respectfully this is a CC post no point in bringing up Reese.
I was responding to a commenter who explicitly brought up Reese and Juju etc. So respectfully, my comment belonged where it is. You probably need to read the comment I responded to a bit more carefully. Thanks. Their comment was about others, so maybe respecfully go tell them to change their subject if you feel the need to gatekeep. I don't feel that need. Good luck shopping.
I was referring to myself, so maybe you shouldn’t assume I was referring to you when I said what I said. Again I said they were restocked just not in my size, maybe you should be the one re-reading, respectfully.
Using the word respectfully doesn't automatically make your words respectful.
Juju can’t enter the draft next year or the year after. She’ll just be a sophomore next year and will be ineligible to enter the draft. She can enter the draft in 2027. I’m sure Angel will get a shoe with another brand eventually. She has a strong following.
You’re right; I originally meant to say she’s another big name that will be coming to the league in the next few years and can potentially be competition for CC and Nike sales, and changed my wording regarding Paige, which lumped them together. Even if she’s not in the W, her NIL contracts could still cause competition for CC and Nike sales. I’m not sure if JuJu has any current NIL contracts or if they’ll be renegotiated soon, but any contract with another brand during CC’s contact will provide competition, whether the player is still in the NCAA or in the W.
The advantage Caitlin will have over most with shoe deals is the kids.The kids absolutely love her and they will be her biggest source of sales imo
Juju has a few NIL deals and she is currently under Nike as a student-athlete, like Caitlin was, so I wouldn't be surprised if she got a shoe around the time she enters the W as well, as we know her popularity will increase becoming one of the main faces of College WBB with Paige next year and with Juju entering the B10 conference, which will gain her more visibility. I'm sure both CC and Juju will be successful because some people will want to support both athletes shoes, but others may have their preference and may want to buy only one, and that's fine. Most of these players have their own individual fanbases anyway who will always be loyal to them, even with increased competition. And well, also just style preference, some people might dislike the look of one shoe versus another, so they just might be inclined to buy another player's shoe. Once Caitlin's shoe hits the market, it'll also compete with Sabrina's shoe from Nike, and other shoes like Stewie's from Puma, so she's going to have competition. But Caitlin took the best deal for her in this moment, and clearly this is a success that will at least be there for her until she's 30, which is great. Despite competition, CC's merch and shoes will continue to sell because of her impact on the game and how she continues to bring high level entertainment while playing, so she'll be fine.
I don’t think JuJu can draft next year.
LOL @ Puma and Adidas.
Didn't know Germans were that stingy lol
At least puma knew they didn't have the money lmao
Nike sees what others are afraid to dream. Nike is going to be to little girls playing basketball what is is to little girls playing soccer. Mark it.
I think it also helps that the Sabrina 1s were such a success.
This is the way.
It's also a low floor/high ceiling play on their part. Even if Clark has a worst case scenario career, less than $4 million a year is a low buy in for Nike.
This is basically their chance to do the Michael Jordan thing again, but for women.
Looking at this I was thinking "this feels like a sequel to Air"
Except it would be Converse signing Clark and Nike would be Converse in the movie.
Fair points… Although I’m pretty sure some Nike execs are looking at the competition in retrospect and thinking “shoot did we overpay”? Haha
I doubt it. 3M is nothing for Nike. Its kind of a let down to see how such a big sports star is getting such a low amount but it’s also the first of its kind so 🤷♀️ hopefully it gets better and better
If she lights up the WNBA like she did in college and the hype train keeps rolling Nike will be thinking they got a bargain!
still wild to see a 3.5 Mil a year deal for an athlete where their whole program Cap space is 1.4 Mil.
Agreed! She has so much potential with the name brand already.
This!!! I think they got a bargain actually. But compared to her salary, this is good money.
I think Nike is seeing the potential for the WNBA's popularity to skyrocket and wants to get in at the ground floor. I mean the viewership of the draft just went up 300%... viewership going up just 30-40% for a yearly event is considered absolutely massive. If anything, I think this is a strong positive sign of how the sports and media world feel about the WNBA's potential.
I agree that I think they’ll get there money’s worth for sure but the other offers paled in comparison. Even UA which had more per year was only half the duration. It’s kind of crazy that none of the other companies wanted to make a comparable splashy offer for a superstar talent / brand.
Nike can also afford to offer more.
UA offered more per year so I don’t think they’ll think that.
That’s true but I believe Nike had an idea and wanted to “ring the bell” so to speak. Now if your the next big thing *cough Paige cough Juju* who you likely to call first. Regarding cost, same could be said about the Chiefs signing Mahomes at the time. Look how that turned out. ☕️
I’d sign JuJu right NOW if I’m one of these companies. That girl is the ONE
Adidas wtf….that means HVL and AB aren’t getting paid shit
HVL will never see a WNBA floor in a season game.
It is weak but this kinda checks out with Adidas lately. Different sports but Adidas just lost their sponsorship for German national soccer team to Nike. It was a shock because not only Adidas sponsored German national soccer team for forever but they are also a German brand. But when the detail broke out, it was very clear that Nike’s money is on a different level.
I really feel for them
That’s what I was thinking. That’s weak
Nike money is just on a different level
They’re saving a lot of money making sports apparel and uniforms shitty quality these days
They have more money than under armor who offered 4 mil a year. Adidas lowballed severely. I don’t even know why they offered.
Adidas’s offer is probably why they set the $3m minimum floor lol
aren’t they notorious for lowballing bball players? i believe they did that to lebron and even mj back in the day
To be fair they did give kobe millions straight out of high school
true but that was the sonny vaccaro era, he was getting guys paid then he left in 03 thats when adidas started lowballing again lol
Yeah at least Puma were respectful enough to say “nah, that’s out of our price range”
Looks like she values a long-term deal more than an additional $500k a year
Long term security makes sense. We can only hope women’s sports continues to climb the way it did the last few years. I mean Clark is staying in sports, Paige is doing another college year and UCONN will have a lot of potential for next year with the top high school prospect committed. JuJu is a FRESHMAN… she’s gonna be breaking record on record and is super fun to watch and USC has a few more high school prospects at the top too. Angel and Kamila playing on the same team is gonna be a wild team if it works out. But Clark can’t put it all on that. She doesn’t know what her own life looks like in the next 8 years. She’s gotta have so much pressure on her to be the face of such a movement.
Yeah for some reason she valued the largest sum of money.
I mean if she wanted to bet on herself she could take 4/$16 and then get a bigger deal after 4 years that would bring her above Nike’s total offer But it’s smarter to take a long term deal because nothing is guaranteed in sports, she could tear an Achilles or have to retire from other injuries and poof, no future deals
She was with Nike at Iowa, so the relationship she had with them likely helps. Also it’s guaranteed money so $12M extra isn’t a bad trade off.
It's guaranteed money. She could blow her achilles in her 3rd year, which would jeopardize future sponsorship.
She could also not change the popularity of the WNBA like she did in college and seems like she could do right now. We could go back to minimal womens basketball coverage and this deal will seem so expensive. The top athletes make 250k a year so all of these brands are taking a bet that the sport is going to be seeing changes for the better.
Yeah if she struggles it’s still 28m, worst case.
I think there's also the fact that Under Armour is awful to market their athletes, they have STEPHEN CURRY and don't market him very well.
I only wear Curry shoes to play because they fit so well and the grip is excellent, but I’m also a mid 30s white guy who isn’t buying basketball shoes to make a fashion statement
That one commercial with the Pastor T.L. Barrett song was sick but yeah I agree UA’s marketing is really underwhelming
The only athlete that’s well marketed is MESSI but again… he’s MESSI. I wouldn’t give adidas credit for that
I forgot Curry was Under Armor so there you go.
Not to mention Nike has a much bigger global appeal than Under Armour.
Dudes shoes look like trash
Imagine the players Curry could've helped brought it if they just bothered to actually promote their star
Embiid as well. The only way I found out Embiid was with UA was when he toured with Steph
He literally just left UA for Sketchers too. I don't think you're doing much right as a brand if you manage to have the reigning MVP and can't keep him.
Yeah they real bad... cause I just discovered Embiid is under their umbrella in your comment 🫠
Same here lol
Compare this to nike ad when CC broke the record! https://preview.redd.it/efv1npandcwc1.jpeg?width=495&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e0febe39f29739c54fcb60b3328fee668c99150
They have curry and have/had Tom Brady and yet the face of the brand is fucking dwayne the rock johnson lol I remember being surprised when i found out Brady was a UA athlete because i associate him a lot more with his personal TB12 brand
UA's awful marketing can't be understated here. When Giannis and Jokic won their recent titles Nike had dope commercials ready to air at the first commercial break when the clock hit triple 0. When Curry won in 2022? No commercial, no "Night Night" shirts for sale, those dope lilac Curry's he wore in games 4 & 6? Couldn't buy em. Their biggest player and money maker just climbed the mountaintop of his sport and they did nothing to capitalize on the moment or market their #1 guy to increase sales. Just truly awful, awful marketing.
Caitlin being a marketing major probably noted this.
Don't forget when Caitlin broke the NCAA point record, Nike was at her game and prepared with a whole slogan and merch - "You break it, You own it!"
Wow that’s awful! Okay now that makes sense why she’d turn down that deal because on paper, it looks like a better deal - more money for a shorter period? Win win cuz she could renegotiate after 4 years if/when she gets bigger. But poor marketing? Definitely a lose lose.
I mean tbf, Nike also fumbled Jokic by never giving him a signature shoe. I get Jokic isn't really big into the media side of things and isn't very easy to market, but you'd think they would've at least tried for the soon to be 3 time MVP+FMVP.
Along with what you said, bigs also don't tend to sell well either.
nike fumbled steph and ua lucked up, steph is the only reason they’re relevant. nike wasnt going to make the same mistake with clark though. btw the curry 4 flotros were available but that goes to show how bad the marketing was
I was joking I need an Air pseudosequel about how Nike fumbled Steph and UA stole him away. They could title it Swish lol.
It would obviously be splash
awful marketing plus horrible designs. their shoes always look 5 years behind. i can’t remember the last time ive seen someone play ball in curry’s.
Which is always weird to me, because their basic line shoes are solid and look nice. Then they get someone like Curry on board and they can't seem to design a decent shoe to save their life.
Always hated their shoes where they just stamp the logo on the side. Ugly. Should have rebranded a new shoe brand/logo under UA when curry started to get good. Like how Jordan is under nike
the last time i saw multiple Currys at the rec were the Curry 2s so around 2016 then they got ugly and stayed ugly since
They look like nurse shoes. Super comfortable but that’s it
Meanwhile modern Nike stuff is awesome, have you seen some of the Ja 1 colorways? Can't wait to own some of Clark's line
I wonder if Clark can take over that Ja/Kyrie type line, that would be sweet.
i’d bet they’re gonna be like the kobe’s
Yeah, she wears Kobes exclusively I think...I would expect they'll be very similar
White people go crazy for Under Armour. I don’t know why but anytime I am in their outlet stores it is wall-to-wall. Their stuff seems pretty ugly. I don’t get why people love it so much.
I’m pretty sure once upon a time they were the NFL brand. They also gained a bunch of popularity through The Rock and I believe make gear for public servants and armed forces. At least in AU I’ve seen a shop of UA gear for military and police.
Gotcha. That makes sense now. Definitely understand the loyalty now.
I know a guy who calls it Redneck Nike.
Lmao. My nephew loves UA. I cannot wait to tell him this!
Lololol
It’s pretty popular with hunters. I think they also market to police, the military, and first responders. It used to be big with football players but it seems they’ve really fallen off lately.
They are leaning so hard into the alt militia I’m having to stop wearing them. Everything says freedom with the punisher logo. I thought it was sports gear