Caitlin Clark continues to dominate headlines as she heads into her first WNBA season. While we wait for Clark to bring her game to the Indiana Fever’s court, here’s the latest on how she’s changing the women’s basketball (business) game.

We’ve got news for the “Caitlin Clark is taking a pay cut” crowd: She’s expected to hit another payday as she steps into the WNBA limelight. Recent reports indicate Clark is close to signing an eight-figure signature shoe deal with Nike worth over $20M with the potential for bonuses.

The WNBA has come a long way from basketball’s problematic dress code and gendered expectations, finally allowing players the freedom to wear what they want. Women’s sports leagues are leaning into this now more than ever thanks to increased exposure, which makes athletes worthwhile investments for luxury brands.

With March Madness over and many of the NCAA’s top players preparing for the WNBA Draft, the court will look different come fall. On top of that, the NCAA transfer portal rules might change soon to allow athletes to transfer more than once. With more than 1.1K players already entered, the transfer portal might get pretty crowded.

The WNBA already believes Caitlin Clark will have a Tiger Woods–like effect on women’s pro basketball, so they’re betting big on her and the rest of 2024’s stacked draft class. On Monday, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert confirmed to CNBC that the league is looking to double its fees in its next media rights deal.

Viewership numbers from women’s March Madness prove the women’s game is thriving, yet significant infrastructure issues are still holding the tournament back from realizing its full potential (and revenue opportunities).

Women’s March Madness was expected to be more compelling than the men’s, and the numbers proved this. The tournament hype — largely driven by Iowa’s star guard Caitlin Clark — resulted in the most-watched college basketball games in ESPN history.

Instead of letting women’s March Madness’ media rights hit the market, ESPN renewed its NCAA deal in January — and it’s already paying dividends. While many stars have been knocked out of this year’s tournament, Iowa’s presence in the Final Four will likely have networks and advertisers rooting for Clark to win it all.

Basketball nonprofit PeacePlayers is hosting its first-ever, in-person Girls Summit event in NYC this weekend. Big brand stars are showing up to support girls in sports during the event, which is a meaningful investment in community and brand equity.

While official data points from women's March Madness have yet to drop, there’s a general consensus building that the women’s tournament is more compelling than the men’s. A recent Seton Hall Sports Poll (the first and only university-based poll on the sports industry) reflects the rising popularity of women’s college basketball.

As of this week, women’s March Madness ads are effectively sold out. It’s estimated that Disney — the network that owns the women’s tournament — could generate more than $25M in ad sales revenue this year, up from the estimated $19.4M ESPN and ABC made during last year’s tourney.

This year’s women’s March Madness is expected to outperform the men’s across a variety of metrics, in large part thanks to Sedona Prince’s whistleblowing in 2021 that shed light on the gender disparity between the men’s and women’s tournaments. Here’s how the competition has grown in the years since.