New League Aims To Lure Caitlin Clark Away From Relaxing Off-Season on a Golf Course

Fresh off a record-breaking rookie season, WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark may have to decide whether to perfect her golf swing or energize a new women’s basketball league.Unrivaled, a women’s 3-on-3 basketball league, founded by the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, is setting its sights on adding Ms. Clark to its 30-player league scheduled to begin play at Miami on January 17.Conceived as a way for players to boost their bank accounts during the WNBA off-season, Unrivaled will consist of six teams with five players on each squad. The fledgling league announced this week it reached a multi-year deal with TNT Sports to broadcast more than 45 primetime games three nights a week on TNT and TruTV and stream on Max. TNT Sports also agreed to invest an undisclosed amount into the new venture.Interestingly, the Unrivaled website has confirmed that 26 players have agreed to participate, meaning only four spots remain. According to Front Office Sports, league officials and committed WNBA players plan to approach Ms. Clark “sometime in the next several weeks” about joining the new league.Ms. Clark indicated near the end of the WNBA regular season that she wasn’t going to play basketball during the off-season. She can’t be blamed for being exhausted. After setting the all-time collegiate scoring record and leading Iowa to the National Championship game in April, Ms. Clark was drafted and playing in the WNBA in a matter of weeks. After her historic rookie season, she said she wanted to relax, rest, and play golf.Though the WNBA has reached its Finals with the New York Liberty playing the Minnesota Lynx, the league is still buzzing about Ms. Clark. Amid unprecedented hype and social media scrutiny, she fashioned one of the best rookie seasons in WNBA history, setting records for most points by a rookie at 769, most league assists at 337, and fastest player to reach 350 points and 150 assists while averaging 19.6 points a game.She helped the Indiana Fever recover from a 0-5 start and reach the WNBA playoffs where they were eliminated in the first round. Ms. Clark was a near-unanimous choice for WNBA Rookie of the Year, receiving 66 of 67 votes, and this week became the first rookie since Candace Parker in 2008 to make the All-WNBA first-team and only the fifth rookie since 2000, joining Sue Bird (2002), Tamika Catchings (2002), and Diana Taurasi (2004).Ms. Collier and Ms. Stewart were also voted to the All-WNBA first team along with A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun.There was no bigger WNBA star than Ms. Clark. Her popularity led to record-breaking numbers for attendance and television ratings for the WNBA, along with a new 11-year $2.2 billion media rights deal.Ms. Clark’s addition to Unrivaled would create instant interest and significantly increase the value of the newly signed television agreement with TNT. Only these days, Ms. Clark seems more interested in her golf game than basketball. She posted a video of nearly making a hole-in-one during a recent Par 3 contest and is scheduled to play in the pro-am of an LPGA Tour event in November hosted by golf legend Annika Sorenstam.“I love golf,” Ms. Clark said when her confirmation in the pro-arm was announced. “So the opportunity to play in the pro-am for a tournament with a legend like Annika Sorenstam’s name on it is so exciting.”Of course, by January it might be too cold for golf and Ms. Clark might consider the warm confines of a basketball gym. Unrivaled’s biggest appeal is that WNBA players could earn significant extra income in America during the offseason. Traditionally, many WNBA players went overseas to compete in foreign leagues to supplement their income.According to ESPN, the maximum WNBA salary is $241,984 for 2024, while the minimum salary for players with zero to two years of service is $64,154 and $76,535 for those with three-plus years. Each team operates with a hard cap of $1,463,200 for 2024. The current average salary in the WNBA is $147,745 with rookies like Ms. Clark and Angel Reese earning an estimated $76,000 in salary.Ms. Clark doesn’t necessarily need extra income. She has an eight-year deal with Nike worth an estimated $28 million. Ms. Reese, meanwhile, has committed to play in Unrivaled. Among others confirmed on the Unrivaled website, include Ms. Stewart, Ms. Collier, Chelsea Gray, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Rhyne Howard, Kahleah Cooper, Dijonai Carrington, and Brittney Griner. UConn star Paige Bueckers has announced her intentions to play in the league as part of a partnership where she’ll reportedly have an NIL deal with the league and receive equity in it.“I definitely think the return on investment will be huge,” she said in August. “I think this league is going to do great things. Unrivaled is going to be a huge thing with people watching during the offseason of the WNBA.”

New League Aims To Lure Caitlin Clark Away From Relaxing Off-Season on a Golf Course

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