Caitlin Clark made NCAA and WNBA history in 2024, but her accomplishments this year extended beyond the court as well.
Despite her five-figure base salary with the Indiana Fever, Clark ranked as one of the highest-paid female athletes of 2024 due to her marketing power off the court.
Her $11.1 million endorsement income was boosted by deals with brands like Wilson and Panini to create desirable collectible items featuring the Iowa Hawkeyes legend.
Professional Sports Authenticator’s (PSA) year-end list of the most popular sports trading cards revealed that Clark’s collectibles put her in historic territory alongside the biggest names in men’s and women’s basketball.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) signs autographs.
She became the first woman in history to crack the top 10 of all basketball players with the most cards “graded” by PSA in a year, an evaluation process that assigns a grade to trading cards to confirm their value.
The next most-popular female basketball trading cards were those of UConn guard Paige Bueckers, WNBA rival Angel Reese and USC’s JuJu Watkins
Though they are stars in their own right, Clark’s trading card popularity dwarfed her female counterparts. She had 14 times more cards graded than Bueckers (5,400) and 16 times more than Reese (4,700).
In the overall rankings, Clark only trailed behind five NBA icons in total cards graded this year: Victor Wembanyama, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Anthony Edwards.
Clark’s collectibles proved historic this year in individual sales as well. On Dec. 7, her 2024 Panini Select WNBA Gold Vinyl 1/1 Signature card became the most expensive WNBA card in history, selling for $234,850 on Goldin.
It was the second highest sale of a women’s sports trading card ever, behind a Serena Williams collectible that sold for $266,400 in 2022.
