Caitlin Clark is currently the most commercially popular basketball player in the world, so why doesn’t she have any commercials? She was supposed to have a signature shoe coming out since she was in college, but she doesn’t have one and isn’t getting one anytime soon. They haven’t even started making it yet. It’s obvious that Nike is ignoring Caitlin Clark, and that’s just one of many reasons she regrets signing with the Swish brand. This situation is much more complicated than people think.

In 2022, Caitlin Clark signed an NIL deal with Nike, which allowed her to make money off her name and likeness while in college. We saw some impressive marketing campaigns, for example, they put up a billboard in Times Square that said, “This was never a long shot” with Caitlin Clark pictured taking one of her long shots. They plastered quotes all over the city, like “Caitlin Clark shouldn’t be allowed to play in a boys’ tournament” and “Caitlin Clark is the biggest star in basketball.” This was absolutely brilliant marketing, and it got people excited about what was to come.

From that point onward, she continued to dominate the sport, becoming the most recognizable college athlete, regardless of gender, in any sport. She drew record attendances across the country, and by the end of her college career, she was a household name. All the big companies wanted to sign her. Caitlin Clark had many options. Under Armour offered to make her the face of the Curry brand, saying she was the perfect fit because of her similar playing style to Steph Curry. She could have gone to Adidas, but instead, she signed an eight-year deal with Nike worth $28 million, which comes to around $3.5 million per year.

This might sound good, but in the long term, it could turn out to be one of the worst sneaker deals of all time, and Caitlin Clark might have gotten screwed.

Anyways, Caitlin Clark is 22 years old, and by the time this deal expires, she will be 30. Her career will almost be over, so she probably won’t have the opportunity in the prime of her basketball career to negotiate a better deal. In comparison to other sneaker contracts, Nike has locked her in long-term for cheap. For comparison, Victor Wembanyama’s Nike deal in 2023 was worth $100 million, LaMelo Ball’s with Puma was $100 million, and Zion Williamson’s with Jordan was $75 million. Even LeBron James signed for $90 million back in 2003.

I understand these are men’s basketball stars and the NBA is bigger than the WNBA, but Caitlin Clark is also bigger than the WNBA. She is the most popular basketball player in the world right now. Indiana Fever games this season averaged over 1 million viewers per game, and they had more nationally televised games than almost every NBA team. In Indiana, the Fever had a higher average attendance than the Pacers. You could argue that no athlete in American sports history has ever elevated a sport and a league this much and this fast.

Had Caitlin Clark not signed with Nike in March of this year and waited six months, that $28 million deal could be worth triple after seeing what she’s done and how her popularity has translated from college to the pros. It would be a lot safer for Nike to invest money now because they know what to expect for the next decade. The timing when she signed this Nike deal was difficult. I understand why she did it; when Caitlin Clark signed the deal, she was in college. She might have thought this was the peak of her popularity, and there was a chance she wouldn’t become the superstar in the WNBA that she has. What if she went to the WNBA and people didn’t care?

You have to remember that NBA stars, whether they take the shoe deal or not, are going to be millionaires either way from day one. They will have the opportunity to sign multiple max contracts throughout their careers. Caitlin Clark’s rookie salary is $338,000; she makes under $100,000 per year playing basketball right now. The highest-paid player in the WNBA is Jackie Young, who makes $250,000 per year. Caitlin Clark will probably never make $3.5 million per year in salary from the WNBA.

So Clark didn’t have the negotiating power that these NBA stars do, and betting on herself would have been a lot riskier because there’s no guarantee she would ever see that kind of money on the table again. Basically, she saw an opportunity to secure generational wealth at a young age while being a part of the biggest sportswear company in the world, and she took it. But Caitlin Clark selling herself short doesn’t explain why Nike is refusing to capitalize on their investment. They did it again, just like they got Jordan, then Tiger Woods, then LeBron, then Ronaldo. Now they’ve got Caitlin Clark.

The company’s stock is at an all-time low right now, and the CEO just resigned. Caitlin Clark is a billion-dollar athlete that they can market and make the face of their brand for the foreseeable future. Everything makes sense, and yet it doesn’t, because when Caitlin Clark’s shoe finally does hit the shelves, this will likely be the best-selling basketball sneaker in the country. Every parent will want their daughter wearing Clark’s shoe. I also think that because she’s a woman and she’s different, this shoe has infinitely more potential than anything they could make for Ja Morant or Devin Booker.

Yet, instead of capitalizing on this, there has been nothing from Nike. Forget about a shoe; we haven’t seen a commercial for Clark since turning pro. She just played in the WNBA playoffs, and instead of wearing and promoting her own shoe, she was wearing Kobes. They’ve got her advertising an old product. Why did Caitlin Clark not have a signature shoe ready to start her WNBA career? When LeBron signed with Nike in 2003, they made sure that when he made his NBA debut, he was also debuting his signature shoe. They could have done the same for Clark, but they didn’t.

This is just one of many missed opportunities for Nike to capitalize on their most marketable young basketball star. Because of the NIL deal, Clark could have had a signature shoe well in college. That would have been historic. During her record-breaking senior season at Iowa, she could have been wearing and promoting her shoe on a national scale. Think about the NCAA tournament with 12 million people watching the Elite 8 versus LSU, 17 million people watching the Final Four with Yukon, and 24 million people watching the championship game against South Carolina. These were some of the most-watched basketball games of all time.

Imagine if Nike had revealed it then, had Clark exclusively wear the shoe during March Madness, and plastered the commercials all over the airlines. It would have been insane. They say Caitlin Clark is the Michael Jordan of women’s basketball. In 1984, Jordan signed a deal worth $2.5 million; he had his signature shoe ready for his NBA debut, and in the first three years, Air Jordan netted $165 million. The Jordan brand became a billion-dollar brand in itself. They have an opportunity to replicate something like that with Caitlin Clark, but she won’t even have a shoe in her first three years.

Does Nike not want money? Did Nike just sign her up to stop her from building up a rival company? Would Adidas, Puma, or Under Armour squander this opportunity? It doesn’t make sense why Caitlin Clark isn’t a priority for the Nike brand. Their official reasoning is a lot of nonsense. They say that creating a shoe is a delicate craft, and having to manufacture millions of pairs and create a marketing campaign all takes time and cannot be rushed. May I remind you, this is Nike? They have all the resources in the world they need to make this happen in whatever timeframe they choose. They’ve done it before several times.

That is not why they are not promoting Caitlin Clark. The real reason they are postponing Caitlin Clark’s shoe is much more controversial. When Clark signed her Nike deal back in April, there was a lot of backlash. People on social media were outraged, and players within the WNBA were annoyed that an unproven rookie, who hadn’t yet played a WNBA game, had secured more money through this sneaker deal than most of them have made in their entire careers.

People were outraged that A’ja Wilson hadn’t gotten a signature shoe after being the MVP of the league, that Sabrina Ionescu hadn’t gotten a shoe either, and those women have been in the league for years. They’ve earned their stripes, and here is Caitlin Clark being rewarded for what she accomplished in college. While it’s deserved, people are going to hold that against her, and Caitlin Clark will get criticized for it, especially from female basketball players.

Nike probably feels that putting out Caitlin Clark’s shoe now would create more backlash than sales. Instead of getting behind her as a brand, Nike is holding her back until they feel that the moment is right. This is a prime example of what is called “The Social Media Effect.” Companies are terrified of backlash, and while they’re willing to put millions into marketing campaigns for these athletes, they don’t want to touch a potential controversy.

Nike might have just been scared, and that fear has cost them dearly. They didn’t want to make a mistake. You can say it’s just a shoe and not worth it, but it could have brought Caitlin Clark and women’s basketball to an even bigger audience. It’s a shame that the industry is so reactionary instead of proactive.

Ultimately, this whole situation could have easily been avoided if they had launched her shoe at the start of her WNBA career. It would have been a huge moment for women’s sports, and now it feels like Caitlin Clark is being held back. This is a complete mismanagement of an incredible opportunity.

She could become the biggest star in basketball, but the longer Nike waits, the more they’re wasting this opportunity to promote her and her brand. If they don’t act soon, it may cost them more than just a signature shoe; it could cost them one of the biggest stars they’ve ever had.