Not surprisingly, businesses lined up along the arena railings like fans to get Kaitlyn Clark’s autograph. The former Iowa State star is a transcendent talent who has proven she can not only break ratings records but also draw huge crowds home and away, even pulling in 17,000 viewers at an open practice on Final Four weekend . After she was drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever, her WNBA jerseys sold out within hours and multiple teams have moved upcoming games to larger venues to accommodate the Indiana Fever “Unprecedented demand” for team games.
So it makes perfect sense to hire her to promote products ranging from home and car insurance to functional drinks, from trading cards to supermarket chains, from cars to financial investment companies.Not only does she deserve every opportunity; earned Every endorsement deal that has come her way, including a reportedly $28 million deal with Nike that includes her own signature shoe line Competitor.
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Caitlin Clark’s whirlwind WNBA draft week is just the beginning for this hot prospect
That being said, we shouldn’t fool ourselves into believing that her appeal as an influencer is solely based on basketball, because that’s not the case. To say otherwise would be an insult to history and reality. Clark’s appeal to local companies and national businesses is heightened by the fact that she is a white woman leading a sport seen as predominantly black. A straight woman joining a league with a large number of LGBTQ+ players; someone from America’s heartland, where residents often feel their beliefs and values are ignored or disrespected by the country’s geographical edges.
Because sports and society are made of the same structure, it’s impossible to separate them, which is why it’s foolish to think basketball is the only thing fueling the Kaitlin Clark effect. The main thing? Yes. But that’s not the only thing.
Caitlin Clark’s bidding war isn’t finally over
• Nike: 8 years/$28 million
• Adidas: 4 years/$6 million
• Under Armor: 4 years/$16 million
• Puma: *Quited after hearing $3M*Nike performed well in the competition pic.twitter.com/wsuwiHEn1m
— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) April 24, 2024
Some will try to turn these words into a disparagement of Clark or her accomplishments. they are not. She’s a great player and, by all accounts, a high-quality person. But multiple things could be true simultaneously, especially when discussing why players are considered better brand ambassadors than others. Looking for perspective on this topic, I returned to an interview last month with Flora Kelly, ESPN’s vice president of research.
On the eve of the Women’s Final Four, I was intrigued by the question of which is more compelling on television — great players or great teams? Kelly acknowledged the importance of a generational talent like Clark and how her presence pushed ratings to all-time highs, but she also highlighted other factors that could push ratings far over the top and into the stratosphere. Factors such as the legacy of a franchise or program, rivalries between teams or players, and cultural or social elements that create viral moments.
“We’re in a unique moment where social media can really spin and create a hyper-awareness around these athletes that triggers a moment that transcends sports,” Kelly said at the time. “But there are a lot of other factors that people are completely Ignore it, just think of it as having a lot of storylines surrounding her that are maybe not the chicken or the egg, maybe both.
It can be uncomfortable to discuss race when it comes to brand ambassadors, but it’s an issue worth considering. Sue Bird, a white, gay woman and one of the legends of women’s basketball, spoke out in 2020 while discussing the league’s inability at the time to capture the nation’s attention like the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.
“Even though we are high-level female athletes, our world, you know, the football world and the basketball world are completely different,” she said. “Frankly, it’s the demographic of the gamers. Women’s soccer players are usually cute little white girls, and WNBA players — we come in all shapes and sizes…a lot of them are black, gay, tall women. … There can be an intimidation factor and people are quick to judge and put it down.
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UConn star guard Paige Bueckers expressed a similar sentiment while accepting the ESPY Award for Best College Athlete in Women’s Sports for the second year. She said 80 percent of WNBA playoff awards that season were won by black players, but they received only half the coverage of white athletes.
“As a white woman, I now have the light to lead a Black-led movement and celebrate it here, and I want to bring light to Black women,” she said. “They don’t get the media coverage they deserve. They have contributed so much to the sport, the community and society in general and their value is undeniable.
Her words are particularly poignant in 2023, when nine of the 10 starters for the WNBA All-Star Game are Black and reserve guard Sabrina Ionescu, who happens to be white, was chosen He is the cover athlete of “NBA2K24”. Ionescu was a college idol at the University of Oregon, where she set an NCAA triple-double record, but she has yet to reach that level as a pro. As such, NBA 2K24’s decision to move away from several dominant Black players, including frontline stars A’Ja Wilson and Jonqui who won the league MVP in 2020, 2021 and 2022, is particularly notable. Jonquel Jones. But, like Clark, she checked for specific conditions that others, as straight, white players, didn’t.
The topic of sexual orientation and identity is as old as the WNBA itself, as the league has a sizable percentage of LGBTQ+ players. Indeed, in its infancy, the Alliance struggled to find the right balance between promoting inclusivity and not alienating the wider community.
Initially, it favored promotional ads featuring players who were married with children, even though many players were not heterosexual. Sue Wicks, a member of the WNBA’s inaugural draft class, became the league’s first openly gay active player in 2002. Dilemma.
“It always annoys me when people say, ‘You can’t say you’re gay,'” she told Competitor 2020.
Today, the league is the most inclusive in professional sports, and while society has not yet come together as a whole, it has made light-year progress since then. In the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas cited three other rulings that he hopes the court will take up in the near future, each of which could help establish same-sex marriage rights nationwide. Make a way. The topic of sexual orientation and identity remains an issue for some, which explains why Clark may be considered an influencer.
This is not a knock on her personally, nor is it a slight on her superb basketball skills. It’s a nod to the reality that a brand ambassador of her caliber is more than just a comment on someone’s athleticism. This also reflects the influence society has on who gets the biggest bags.
(Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)
