Caitlin Clark's expanding empire could have included Nike more prominently

Arguably, no one in the sports world ascended to more popular heights than WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark in 2024. She was in high demand, both on and off the court.

Can you guess how much Caitlin Clark is paid for speaking engagements?

According to the Daily Mail, Clark rakes in $100,000 for virtual speaking events, in just 30 minutes! It's an astonishing number, but it makes sense.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

Additionally, Caitlin Clark signed an eight-year, $28 million pact with Nike in the spring of 2024. While that is nothing to look down at, a former prominent sports marketing executive thinks the sneaker giant made a huge mistake in handling Clark.

Sonny Vaccaro called Clark brilliant and charismatic, and told TMZ, "she should have gotten a piece of everything, like Michael Jordan." Of course, had Nike committed to Clark in the same way they committed to Jordan, Clark's net worth would have skyrocketed astronomically.

She’s become the face of the WNBA in a short amount of time, but she has bigger dreams in a $1 trillion industry away from the basketball court, perhaps putting Nike's potential miscalculation to shame. All basketball statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

Caitlin Clark joined a podcast amongst friends in early November, where she sat down with former Iowa basketball teammates Jada Gyamfi, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall. In the safe space, Clark said that she would love to dive into the food industry as a goal outside of her athletic pursuits.

Clark said, "You ever seen them put up that like dream thing? You know it was kind of going around; it said like 'play in the WNBA and get a scholarship.' One of them said like 'own a restaurant.' So one day I have to accomplish that."

Clark talked about a business opportunity she thought a lot about as a kid. "There was always this random open lot (near where she grew up), and I always told my mom I was going to open up this restaurant called ‘The Rib Shack'." Clark later remembered that she actually had a different name in mind for the venture, clarifying that it was actually "The Rib Crib."

The Indiana Fever star continued, "I was devastated when the lot got purchased and they built a retirement home on it."

Clark told her Iowa teammates, "I loved cooking and baking growing up, and one of my dad’s friend’s managed a Bonefish Grill. I had the Bonefish chef coat, I would get to go in the kitchen, I loved it."

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

"Maybe I’ll have like a coffee shop or a restaurant or something," Clark said. Marshall and Gyamfi joked that they would work as hostesses at the joint.

While barbecue seemed to steal Clark’s gastronomic focus as a youngster, perhaps she would consider opening up a restaurant with savory breakfast options. In May, it was revealed by documentarian Hannah Bier what Caitlin Clark ordered for breakfast every day as they filmed "Full Court Press".

Without fail, Clark asked for a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich from McDonald’s, and an iced macchiato with vanilla sweet cream cold foam from Starbucks.

Clark’s Fever teammate Erica Wheeler is already involved in the restaurant game. Wheeler owns an establishment called Cliché Tapas & Wine, located near the Atlanta airport. The entire team stopped by there after a road game with the Atlanta Dream in August 2024.

Clark told Athlon Sports, "It was fun for us and fun to do something outside of basketball. I would say my favorite is the mac and cheese. It was really good."

Wheeler’s restaurant opened in July 2024. She told the Indianapolis Star, "Top-shelf wine, top-shelf liquor, three-level restaurant where you get the elegant, you get the patio vibe, and then you get the daytime vibe, rooftop, roof reclines back, so it’s pretty nice."

When she was in college, Clark had a specific postgame meal that she found comfort in, win or lose. She told Hawk Central she would eat "chicken parm, pasta and a big glass of chocolate milk" after Hawkeyes games.

Clark said in a 2022 YouTube video that "You can’t go wrong with any sort of Hai Chai. My favorite’s definitely broccoli beef, that’s what I get."

It’s understandable why Clark is so hungry before and after games, considering all the work she puts in behind the scenes and on the court. She scored the most points by any rookie in WNBA history, and set a record for most assists in a season by anyone in WNBA history, as noted by Bleacher Report.

Clark averaged over 19 points, eight assists and nearly six rebounds per game in her first season with the Indiana Fever.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!