Women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark has reportedly landed a historic shoe contract with Nike.
Clark is in line to sign an eight-year deal after the shoe company offered the women’s basketball star $28 million and a signature shoe, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Negotiations between Clark and athletic companies such as Puma, Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas began in February and reportedly got pretty intense, according to the outlet. Reps for Clark from Excel Sports Management allegedly made it clear they weren’t taking offers that amounted to less than $3 million a year.
Puma reportedly thought that request was too high and walked away from negotiations. The brand already has a deal with Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, which includes her own signature shoe.
At the time, Clark had yet to announce her plans to enter the WNBA draft and several companies reportedly made their offer based on her remaining at the University of Iowa and playing for the Hawkeyes one more year.
“She played herself into a position where it wasn’t even contingent on staying in college,” someone familiar with the deals told the outlet. “People just wanted her.”
The WSJ noted that some shoe executives were surprised by how well-prepared Clark and her reps were during a Zoom call.
Adidas offered the basketball star $6 million over four years, but with the offer being so far off the mark, that left Under Armour, who came in with a $16 million offer over four years and her own signature shoe, WSJ noted.
In just one hour, Fanatics has completely sold out of Caitlin Clark’s Fever jersey in sizes XS, M, L, XL, and XXL, per @darrenrovell pic.twitter.com/KPzpckeQgh
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 16, 2024
However, Nike’s offer would be record-setting for women’s basketball, giving Clark another shot at breaking a record, WSJ noted.
Clark recently set a new record when she went number one overall in the 2024 WNBA draft to the Indiana Fever, and afterward her new jersey shot to the top of Fanatics — the official online retailer for the league, TMZ reported.
The sports site said it put up preorders for her No. 22 jersey — which sold out and has become the top-selling draft pick jersey in the company’s history across all sports, the outlet noted.
Clark previously became the top scorer in NCAA basketball history.