From playing with the ball as a child to partnering with the brand as a professional, Caitlin Clark is Wilson’s newest face.
Caitlin Clark boasts a lot of firsts on her resume, most recently being selected No. 1 overall in this year’s WNBA Draft. Just a few games into her debut professional season, the Indiana Fever rookie is adding another milestone: a multi-year partnership with Wilson.
Clark joins the century-old company as an ambassador, and soon, fans across the globe will be able to snag products from her forthcoming signature basketball collection that celebrates the 22-year-old’s impact on the game. The only other athlete who has dropped a collaboration with Wilson was Michael Jordan in the 1980s.
Wilson resumed its role as the official ball of the WNBA in 2021, but Clark has been playing with the Chicago-based company’s products since she was a child. In a full-circle moment, Clark said she hooped with a Wilson ball in her driveway while growing up, which appeared as a full court thanks to some engineering by her father. Ironically enough, that ball was colored black and yellow, perhaps predicting a future where Clark would make headlines during her four years as an Iowa Hawkeye.
“I loved that thing more than anything. My brothers and I would always fight over it,” Clark told Boardroom. “That was the best basketball. But I’m just super excited to have a collaboration and create basketballs together that are really cool. I’ve seen the designs that young girls, boys, whoever can get their hands on and go dribble in the driveway or take it to practice with them.”
The first drop, available on Wilson’s website, features the brand’s classic white and gold WNBA basketball with personalized laser engravings celebrating some of Clark’s history-making moments, including the logo triple that helped her break the all-time NCAA scoring record.
“I think it is super special, and it’s been fun for me,” Clark said. “I feel like I was just that young kid who had those basketballs that I would store in the garage. I’m just very lucky and fortunate to partner with Wilson to create something that everyone can enjoy. It connects with a lot of generations, and it’ll be fun to see kids walking around holding them.”
Life in the WNBA
Since transitioning to the league last month, Clark’s life has only gotten busier. In addition to a more grueling WNBA schedule, she has made appearances at Indiana Pacers playoff games and on the red carpet to promote her new ESPN+ docuseries, among other obligations.
Besides ridding herself of the demands of schoolwork, Clark has noticed some other early changes to her routine since leaving Iowa. Basketball is the primary objective, and anything less than a championship for the Fever is deemed an unsuccessful rookie campaign in Clark’s eyes.
The Des Moines native admits things are on a “whole other level above college” at the moment, but there are still some benefits of staying in the Midwest to continue flourishing in her career.
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“Indiana is still a place that doesn’t feel too big, so I feel like the transition for me has been actually pretty easy and pretty smooth,” Clark said. “This organization really values women’s basketball. So, coming in here and having the resources and facilities, things are only going to get better as this league continues to grow. I couldn’t really have imagined a better place for me to start my career.
“And obviously, it makes it easy for Iowa fans to just transition right over to Indiana Fever fans and bring new fans to the WNBA to join the existing fans.”
As the game grows for the W, thankfully, so does the access to watch teams play. On Wednesday, the Fever confirmed that 12 television markets will air 17 of Indiana’s games for free this season. WTHR in Indianapolis was originally set to air Fever games, but they will now be assisted by 11 more stations across five states — Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, and Kentucky.
For the team’s opener against the Sun, ESPN aired the game on Disney+ and was also available on ESPN+ and ESPN2. Although beneficial for her, Clark acknowledges this is only the beginning, as fans deserve access to all games, regardless of the player and how popular the franchise is.
This summer, Clark has made clear her desire to represent Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. If she’s chosen to rock the red, white, and blue, her skills will be on display for a wider audience, further emphasizing the W’s commitment to global expansion.
Whether that happens or not, since the roster hasn’t been officially announced just yet, Clark says simply the addition of WNBA’s League Pass has introduced her game to fans overseas, and she hopes that trend continues beyond simply this summer.
“It’s kind of crazy to think about people watching you play in Europe or wherever, but people certainly want to watch from everywhere. It’s not just here in the United States,” Clark said. “They want to watch all over the world. Continuing to make that accessible for all, I think it’s going to be really important and really just continue to help our league grow.
“As you’ve seen with the NBA, they have fans all over the world, and that’s what’s helped them grow. I think that’s something that’s certainly important to the WNBA as well.”
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