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Gatorade unveils 150-foot Caitlin Clark banner in Indianapolis ahead of WNBA home debut

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•05/16/24•

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Caitlin Clark

Thursday night, Caitlin Clark will make her home debut for the Indiana Fever against Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty. The buzz continues to grow around the former Iowa star after another viewership record in her first game earlier this week, and Gatorade is celebrating accordingly.

A 150-foot banner went up on the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis Thursday prior to Clark’s first game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. She initially partnered with Gatorade in college through an NIL deal, and it’s continuing into the WNBA. The banner also featured the tagline “It’s just getting started.”

It’s another example of Clark’s NIL success continuing into the WNBA.

Clark agreed to a multi-year deal with Gatorade in December 2023 as part of her impressive portfolio, and the company also agreed to commit $22,000 to the Caitlin Clark Foundation as part of the deal. She was just the second college basketball player to join forces with Gatorade through NIL, along with UConn’s Paige Bueckers.

“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 after the agreement came together. “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.”

Clark is also cashing in on a historic deal with Nike as she begins her WNBA career. She is getting her own signature shoe as part of a lucrative eight-year deal worth $28 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. She exited college with an On3 NIL Valuation of $3.4 million and appeared poised for more success in the W, as well.

In addition, Clark was one of a handful of top WNBA Draft picks to receive an official trading card from Panini America late last month. She joined Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso, Angel Reese and Nika Muhl, among others, in the partnership.

NIL success prepared Caitlin Clark for WNBA spotlight

Clark put together an impressive NIL portfolio during her time at Iowa, and most of her agreements can continue as she begins her WNBA career. While some argued she effectively took a “pay cut” by going to the W with a $76,000 salary as a rookie, that’s not necessarily the case. She didn’t take any money from the Iowa-focused Swarm Collective – meaning she only had NIL deals with outside organizations and companies.

Clark notably inked partnerships with Xfinity and State Farm as part of her lengthy portfolio. She later added a partnership with Gainbridge, which owns the naming rights to the Fever’s arena, and signed on with Excel Sports Management to represent her in the WNBA.

Those agreements helped make her the face of college basketball. She left Iowa with an On3 NIL Valuation of over $3 million.

Clark, Fever made more viewership history in opener

Caitlin Clark played in her first WNBA game earlier this week when the Fever took on the Connecticut Sun. Despite her up-and-down night, she still made some impressive history.

More than 2.12 million people tuned in to ESPN2 for the game, according to Sports Media Watch – the most-watched WNBA game since 2001 when 2.45 million fans watched the Los Angeles Sparks take on the Houston Comets on NBC. Tuesday’s game also became the first live-action sporting event streamed on Disney+ in addition to Hulu.

Indiana vs. Connecticut was also the third-most watched game of the day behind both NBA playoff games and beat out the NHL playoffs on ESPN.

Clark struggled mightily in the first half before eventually finishing with 20 points on 5-for-15 shooting in her debut, but she also committed 10 turnovers as the Fever fell to the Sun 92-71. The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer faced a tall task in her first regular-season WNBA game, going up against a Connecticut team that held opponents to a league-best 53.9 points per game in 2023.