Caitlin Clark Leaps Ronaldo and Messi On Marketable Athletes List
Anyone who has been paying attention to women's basketball over the last two or so years will not be surprised to hear that Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark is setting a new standard for marketability in the sport.
The 22-year-old has leveraged her superstardom into multiple endorsement deals with globally renowned companies like Wilson Sporting Goods Co., Nike, Gatorade, State Farm, Bose, Buick, and many others.
In fact, Clark and her team are surely approached by so many companies that want to collaborate that they're probably picky about who they decide to partner with at this point.
Still, while the women's basketball world has witnessed this in real-time, it was hard to quantify where Clark's marketability matched up alongside some of the world's elite in other sports. But that has since changed, now that sports media company SportsPro compiled a list of the world's most marketable athletes in 2024, released on Tuesday.
Clark came in at a whopping No. 4 on the list, only behind Olympic icon Simone Biles (who is a clear Indiana Fever and Clark fan), soccer star Vinicius Junior, and NBA legend LeBron James (who has been very complimentary of Clark in the past).
While that's an impressive list, what may be more impressive at the hands behind Clark in the top 10. Among them are Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappe, who are arguably the biggest soccer superstars in the world (or at least the best-known names).
This year's #SP50MM top ten...
— SportsPro (@SportsPro) October 22, 2024
1️⃣ Simone Biles
2️⃣ Vinicius Junior
3️⃣ Lebron James
4️⃣ Caitlin Clark
5️⃣ Lionel Messi
6️⃣ Rebeca Andrade
7️⃣ Kylian Mbappe
8️⃣ Ilona Maher
9️⃣ Cristiano Ronaldo
🔟 Katie Ledecky pic.twitter.com/vkoo2lTXgP
It's incredibly cool to see Clark get included so high on this list. And given how young she still is, it would seem that she's more likely to climb the leaderboard than fall down it.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.