"Those are pretty expensive" - Caitlin Clark reveals spending nearly all of her salary on getting season tickets

The WNBA is at a pivotal point in its journey to becoming a top league among basketball fans. For the past few years, the league had shown steady growth, but it wasn’t until Iowa star Caitlin Clark was drafted into the WNBA that its popularity started to balloon.

Clark was coming off a historic final season in college, during which she became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer. Following that, she was drafted as the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.

Naturally, fans expected her to be one of the highest-paid rookies in the league. Although it is true, Clark’s contract is still peanuts as compared to the level of the crowd she pulls into the arena.

Clark subtly calls out the WNBA for notoriously low salaries

Clark and the Indiana Fever locked horns with the Seattle Storm in an exciting matchup on Sunday. The Fever registered a solid 92-75 win over Storm behind yet another stellar performance from their star player.

Caitlin’s teammate, Lexie Hull, had an excellent outing as well. During the postgame interview, Hull was asked if she planned to give her relative season tickets to watch her player. Before she could answer, Clark jumped in and took a subtle shot at WNBA salaries.

“Those are pretty expensive,” Clark said. “It’s like our entire salary to get those. I’m not kidding. We need people to help.”

Considering Clark is probably the biggest name in the WNBA right now, this admission certainly tarnishes the league. But hey, can the players be blamed? After all, they are indeed severely underpaid compared to their male counterparts.

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How much does the young star make?

The Iowa graduate has taken the league by storm during her rookie year with the Fever. She has already broken several WNBA records and will continue doing so in the future. One would assume that Clark takes a big paycheck, right? But that’s far from the truth.

Clark signed a four-year, $338k rookie deal when she was drafted. Throughout her deal, she makes an average of $84.5k. However, her earnings will gradually increase, and during her rookie year, Clark will only make $76,535.

With the league’s popularity higher than ever, the players’ salaries should see a hike in the coming years. Hopefully, the top players in the league can then easily purchase season tickets for their relatives.

After all, seeing Clark play is not cheap. For example, the Fever’s season opener against the Minnesota Lynx had a median ticket price of $615. Keeping that in mind, the season ticket prices could very well be in the range of $8-10k for a single person. The number could be double for VIP seats.

Related: “I need a quick minute here” - Caitlin Clark gets honest about being exhausted after a long break