Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Basketball, NBA
Ben McCrum
The staggering amount of money that basketball star Caitlin Clark charges as a public speaking fee has been revealed amid the WNBA pay dispute.
Alongside Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, Clark has been one of the faces leading the current debate surrounding the difference in pay between men's and women's basketball.
Despite being arguably the best player in the women's NBA, Clark is believed to earn an annual salary of around $76,535, which is a fraction of the wage earned by the likes of Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
In his latest contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, Doncic secured an eye-watering $165million salary across three years, taking his annual earnings to a humble $55m.
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However, it's not just her WNBA salary that pays the bills for Clark, as details of what she charges for a public speaking appearance has been revealed.
As one of the most popular figures in women's sport Clark is one of the most in demand speakers when it comes to talking about her career and the WNBA in general.
And it appears that public speaking may be one of her most profitable side gigs as one businessman revealed the fee his company was asked to pay when asking her to speak after she missed out on Paris 2024.
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"We contacted her organization to speak for 30 minutes virtually as part of our GAINING THE EDGE Global Cap Intro 2024," Don A. Steinbrugge posted on LinkedIn.
"We said she could speak any business day over a 6-week period and pick any time between 9 AM and 5 PM.
"We were told her virtual speaking fee started at $100,000, which was over our budget.
"She makes more in a 30-minute virtual meeting than she does over a 40-game WNBA season with her team."
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Just six months later, one fan on social media claimed that Clark had completed six speaking engagements during the year, meaning that she took home a total fee of $600,000, if Steinbrugge's claims are true.
Alongside her basketball career and public speaking engagements, Clark also works as an ambassador for several brands, most notably Nike, taking her total estimated earning to around $11m annually, making her the highest-earning WNBA player in terms of off-the-court revenue.