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Caitlin Clark’s $5 Million Change Emerges After Second WNBA Season
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- Caitlin Clark’s $5 Million Change Emerges After Second WNBA Season
The continued growth of women's sports led to increased investment in 2025. With more money pouring in than ever before, Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark saw a dramatic change in her earnings during her second WNBA season.
Clark was sidelined for most of the year with injuries, playing just 13 games for the Fever after being named 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year. Clark averaged 16.5 points, 5 rebounds and 8.8 assists, while the Fever managed to win the WNBA Commissioner's Cup title game and advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs without her in the lineup. That did not stop the 23-year old from continuing to make history off the court .
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) looks on from the bench.© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
In Sportico's year-end list of the highest-paid female athletes of 2025, Clark ranked No. 6 overall, earning a combined $16.1 million in 2025 from salary, winnings and endorsements. It represented a $5 million increase from 2024, when she placed No. 10 with $11.1 million .
For the second straight year, the former No. 1 overall draft pick from the Iowa Hawkeyes was the highest-paid women's basketball player in the list dominated by individual sport athletes.
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The vast majority of Clark's earnings came from off-court endorsements, which is also where she earned the $5 million increase. Her wide portfolio of brand deals includes Nike, Gatorade and State Farm — partnerships that were maximized in her first full year as a professional athlete.
"This has been the first full year of those contracts, which helped boost her off-court income from $11 million in 2024 to an estimated $16 million in 2025," wrote Sportico's Kurt Badenhausen.
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Only $119,000 (less than 0.1 percent) of Clark's $16.1 million income came from her WNBA contract. Clark is in the second year of her four-year, $338,056 rookie contract , which paid her $78,066 this season. The rest came from bonuses, such as being named a WNBA All-Star and winning the Commissioner's Cup .
Overall, tennis players dominated the list of highest-paid female athletes this year, claiming 10 of the 15 spots. Coco Gauff ranked first for the third year in a row with an estimated income of $31 million. Unlike WNBA players, female tennis stars are able to bring in comparable salaries as their male counterparts for on-court performance.
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The highest-earning non-tennis player was skiier Eileen Gu, who hauled in $23 million, almost exclusively from endorsements. Golfer Nelly Korda, who ranked seventh overall at $13.8 million, was the only other athlete in the top 10 who does not swing a racket. Korda and Clark played golf together at the pro-am preceding THE ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Golf Club last month.
Related: Indiana Fever Player Makes Strong Statement Amid WNBA Offseason
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Dec 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the WNBA section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
