Caitlin Clark‘s Nike deal is being celebrated as historic by many fans, but the contract should’ve been worth so much more, according to Dave Portnoy … who says the Swoosh is committing armed robbery!
“If people want to complain about Caitlin Clark getting screwed complain about this. 8 year 28 million deal is STEALING,” the Barstool founder wrote on X.
The deal, which comes along with a signature Clark shoe, has an annual average value of $3.5 million.
Dave believes Clark’s worth at least $10 mil!
“8 years 80 million min is her worth and that’s still prob too cheap. I hope she has an early opt out if they don’t pay up when she blows through this deal.”
Of course, the magnitude of Clark’s stardom is something we haven’t seen before. The women’s NCAA Tourney Final blew away the men, drawing 4 million more viewers (18+ million viewers vs. 14+ million). That was a first. The WNBA Draft also saw record ratings.
Critics of the Nike deal, including Dave, believe Clark is going to sell an insane amount of product, making her worth far more than she’s getting paid.
NBA stars have received exponentially more lucrative deals. LeBron James received a lifetime contract from Nike that’s believed to be worth over $1 billion. Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s deal with the Oregon based sports giant is reportedly 10 year, $100 million.
There’s more. James Harden signed a 10 year, $200 million deal with Adidas several years back. Lillard signed a 10 year, $100 million with the company, too. Donovan Mitchell, Steph Curry, and others also have massive contracts.
Will Clark’s starpower carry over to the cash register? If it does … she’s likely worth a bunch more than she got!
