Caitlin Clark Was Almost Paid to Stay in School. Good Idea.
Fox Sports reportedly considered offering the star a deal for her name, image and likeness if she stayed an amateur an extra year. It may be on to something.
Pay college stars everything they are worth.
Adam Minter/Bloomberg
Just before 11 a.m. Sunday, I squeezed through the crowded corridors of the Target Center in Minneapolis. The formal occasion was the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Championship between Iowa and Nebraska. But if it weren’t for the presence of Caitlin Clark, Iowa’s supernova guard, there’s no way that 18,500 people — including me — would’ve gotten out of bed early to see the game.
The business of women’s college basketball has benefited mightily from that devotion. At home and away, Iowa sets attendance records. Meanwhile, television viewership of women’s college basketball is up 60%, and Fox reports that women’s college basketball games — especially those featuring Iowa — are scoring better viewership than men’s college basketball games this season.