Caitlin Clark passes LeBron James in jersey sales, further exposing WNBA’s marketing problem

Just in case you had been questioning whether or not the WNBA had lastly discovered easy methods to revenue off its personal Michael Jordana fast reminder: the league’s marketing division just lately refused to even put Caitlin Clark on a promotional graphic for a primetime Indiana Fever recreation.

The joke is officially on them.

Newly launched Fanatics retail knowledge proves that whereas WNBA executives preserve downplaying Caitlin Clark in their marketing, followers are overwhelmingly spending their cash on her anyway.

CAITLIN CLARK’S INDIANA FEVER SOLD 90 TIMES MORE TICKETS ON STUBHUB THIS YEAR THAN IN 2023

Clark has formally locked down the No. 2 spot for essentially the most basketball jerseys bought in the United States — forward of worldwide icons like LeBron JamesLuka Dončić and Victor Wembanyama.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark shoots towards Seattle Storm guard Zia Cooke in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on May 17, 2026. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)

The solely participant promoting extra jerseys than Clark proper now? Golden State’s Stephen Curry.

Let that sink in for a second. A 3rd-year WNBA guard is outselling LeBron James.

Yet when you adopted the WNBA’s official marketing, you’d barely know she exists.

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The retail numbers surfaced simply days after the league’s social media division sparked backlash with one of the vital weird promotional choices possible.

Ahead of a highly anticipated Fever-Storm matchupthe WNBA posted a hype graphic that includes Seattle’s Zia Cooke and Indiana rookie backup guard Raven Johnson.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark celebrates a basket in the primary half towards the Seattle Storm at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on May 17, 2026. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)

Noticeably absent? Caitlin Clark… the participant driving report rankings, ticket demand and merchandise gross sales throughout the league.

Fans roasted the league for someway managing to sideline the most well-liked participant in girls’s basketball whereas attempting to advertise girls’s basketball.

As OutKick founder Clay Travis identified, the logic makes completely no sense in the context of sports activities historical past.

“Was Michael Jordan ever not the lead graphic on any Bulls game when he was a member of the team?” Travis requested. “You can say this is a small thing, but I would guarantee you Bill Cartwright, Luc Longley & Bill Wennington never got the promo graphic over Jordan.”

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Then Clark did what superstars do.

Hours after being left off the graphic, she torched Seattle with a 21-point, 10-assist double-double in an 89-78 Fever win.

Meanwhile, Johnson completed scoreless in 17 minutes off the bench.

Caitlin Clark, 24, is quickly changing into one of many largest attracts in all of American sports activities. She helped gasoline a reported 1,000% arise in WNBA merchandise salesturned Fever video games into nationwide occasions, and now sits behind solely Curry in nationwide jersey gross sales.

And someway, the league still treats her like an afterthought each time it is time to market its personal product.

The WNBA can preserve attempting to force-feed followers different stars if it desires.

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But till another person begins shifting extra jerseys than LeBron James, possibly it is time for the league to cease overthinking this, log again into Canva and put No. 22 again on the d— graphic.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark warms up on the court docket earlier than a WNBA recreation towards the Seattle Storm on May 17, 2026, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. (Doug McSchooler/Special to IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Images)

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