Iowa Star Caitlin Clark Makes Trading Card History with $78,000 Sale

Nation's leading scorer shatters record for most expensive women’s basketball card

Michael Ehrlich | Jan 26, 2024

Iowa Star Caitlin Clark Makes Trading Card History with $78,000 Sale /

In this story:

Iowa Hawkeyes

The financial figures surrounding Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark's 2022 Topps Bowman University Superfractor Rookie continue to shatter records in the trading card space.

A week ago - at $21,000 - the card had already set the all-time mark for most expensive women's basketball card, but after the final sale on Thursday night, Clark's number soared even higher.

The auction price closed at $78,000 in the PWCC January Premier Auction - which is six-times higher than the previous most expensive women's basketball card - owned by former Oregon star and now Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu ($11,500).

Clark - the reigning Player of the Year - currently leads the nation in scoring with 31.7 points per game for the 18-2 Hawkeyes. Topps first announced their NIL partnership with Clark in July 2022.

Clark now trails Serena Williams, who has the record price for a women's sports trading card at $266,400.

One of the most profilic college athletes in the NIL space, Clark counts Nike, Gatorade, State Farm and Bose among her other brand partners.

Coming off an overtime loss to Ohio State on Sunday aired on NBC and streamed on Peacock- which was the most-watched regular season women’s college basketball game on any US network since 2010 - Clark and the Hawkeyes look to bounce back against Nebraska on Saturday.

Published Jan 26, 2024

MICHAEL EHRLICH

Michael Ehrlich is a seasoned sports marketing executive with experience across the global sports brand, athlete representation, media and education sides of the business. The Founder and CEO of Playbook Marketing, Ehrlich consults with brands on all things NIL and athlete partnerships, advises student-athletes on their personal brand building endeavors and is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the University of Southern California where he teaches a course on athlete communications and marketing. As a writer, his previous bylines include Boardroom, Business of College Sports, DIME Magazine and UPROXX, among others. You can follow him across social media at @MichaelEhrlich and reach out via michael@playbook-marketing.com