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'REALITY IS COMING': WNBA legend fires off warning shot at star college basketball player Caitlin Clark as she is expected to be the Number 1 pick for the WNBA draft. https://trib.al/03yfzd9
'REALITY IS COMING': Caitlin
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'REALITY IS COMING': WNBA legend fires off warning shot at star college basketball player Caitlin Clark as she is expected to be the Number 1 pick for the WNBA draft. https://trib.al/03yfzd9
James Skubal
You just can't be happy for her! Clark has done so much for the sport. They always have said that jealousy is a strong emotion.... Love Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes
Jalal Jay Ghazï
Even if Caitlin Clark wasn't a scorer she'd still fair well because she's a great facilitator of the ball & has an incredible feel for the game. What a way in trying to knock her down. She's gonna do just fine.
You just can't be happy for her! Clark has done so much for the sport. They always have said that jealousy is a strong emotion.... Love Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes
Jalal Jay Ghazï
Even if Caitlin Clark wasn't a scorer she'd still fair well because she's a great facilitator of the ball & has an incredible feel for the game. What a way in trying to knock her down. She's gonna do just fine.
Man Diana Turasi is 41 years.
That young girl is gonna run her old ass off the court
President Biden wades into Caitlin Clark contract controversy
BySocial Links forJustin Terranova
Published April 17, 2024, 11:26 a.m. ET
Khristina Williams & Myles Ehrlich join Dexter Henry to break down the New York Liberty's four selections in the WNBA Draft
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Caitlin Clark’s new WNBA salary went viral, and even President Biden is taking notice.
Clark, selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever on Monday in the 2024 WNBA Draft, is set to make $76,535 her rookie year and $338,056 over the next four seasons, according to Spotrac.
WNBA salaries have been a topic for years — often forcing players to go overseas to play in the WNBA offseason — but Clark’s rise in stardom has brought new interest — and opinions — to the sport.
4Caitlin Clark was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever.Getty Images
“Women in sports continue to push new boundaries and inspire us all,” Biden wrote on X. “But right now we’re seeing that even if you’re the best, women are not paid their fair share.
“It’s time that we give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons and ensure women are paid what they deserve.”
Clark was taken No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever on Monday night after leading Iowa to back-to-back national championship game appearances.
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4President Biden is pushing for female athletes to get paid more.REUTERS
For comparison, Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick of the Spurs in the 2023 NBA Draft, will make $55.1 million over four years.
The Hawkeyes’ loss to South Carolina in the national championship game was viewed by 18.7 million people and peaked at 24 million — the most-watched hoops broadcast of any kind since the 2019 men’s championship game between Texas Tech and Virginia.
However, Clark’s NCAA popularity will do little to impact her rookie salary given the current financial realities of the WNBA.
The WNBA currently makes $60 million a season from their TV contracts ESPN, CBS, ION and Amazon, per Front Office Sports.
4Caitlin Clark and Iowa lost to South Carolina in the national championship game.AP
The NBA makes $2.7 billion annually from their TV contracts with Turner and ESPN.
Also, NBA players get 50 percent of revenue from broadcast rights and ticket sales per the deal with the union.
WNBA players only get 50 percent of the league’s excess money after it hits a certain revenue target.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert recently told CNBC the hope is “to double our rights fees” when they expire in 2025.
“Women’s sports rights fees have been undervalued for too long, so we have this enormous opportunity at a time where the media landscape is changing so much,” Engelbert said.
4Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark and Cameron Brink at the WNBA Draft.AP
Even before Clark’s arrival, the WNBA saw ratings growth by averaging 505,000 viewers per game last season — their most in 21 years, per Fox News.
The WNBA draft on Monday night, which also included Stanford’s Cameron Brink and LSU’s Angel Reese, shattered previous ratings records with 2.46 million viewers on ESPN.
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Clark will make her WNBA debut on May 14 against the Connecticut Sun and 36 of the Fever’s 40 games will be featured on national television.
Hoda Kotb of “Today,” Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson and former ESPN columnist Jemele Hill were among the other famous names to weigh in on Clark’s WNBA contract.