Caitlin Clark vs Pickleball athlete salary comparison: Stunning numbers reveal reality of two sports

Superstar Caitlin Clark earned a paltry $76K as salary from the Indiana Fever during her rookie WNBA campaign.

Caitlin Clark vs Pickleball athlete salary comparison: Stunning numbers reveal reality of two sports

Caitlin Clark earns less than the average pickleball player

Caitlin Clark arrived in the WNBA with millions of followers wanting to see her play. That resulted in the Indiana Fever exploding in terms of attendance, viewership, merchandise sales and that spread throughout the league.

That transformational push helped the league grow faster than any other brand in the country. She brought in $36 million in revenue to the city of Indianapolis, a remarkable feat considering they paid the rookie a paltry $76K as salary.

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The WNBA prohibits teams from compensating players with anything other than housing and a few standard benefits. But other than that, players are on their own. This season, Caitlin Clark will earn a little more when her salary grows to $78K, showing the league is a long way off when providing deserving pay to its players.

That is despite the league being in existence for nearly three decades. Pickleball in comparison has only become a professional sport since 2019. Despite that, the average professional pickleball player earns more than Caitlin Clark.

CBS News covered the basics of the sport in 2023, and their research showed that the average salary was $100K. Considering the growth in sponsorship and revenue, that number is growing at a rapid rate. Even if Clark was to get the highest WNBA salary, that would pale in comparison to what pickleball players earn.

Caitlin Clark cannot hope to match highest earning Pickleball player even with new CBA

Last year, Caitlin Clark earned $11 million through sponsorships, a number which will only creep up as brands line up to sign her. However, her WNBA salary is an insignificant part of that number. But after this season, her league will look to negotiate a new CBA which should bring about a considerable increase in salaries.

The highest earning Pickleball player currently is 18-year-old Anna Leigh Waters. She earned $3 million in 2024, making her the highest paid player, irrespective of league or gender. The new WNBA CBA might not be enough to bring Clark’s salary even remotely close to those number.

Her agent clarified that the league cannot do enough to compensate what the Indiana Fever star has done for the sport and for women’s sports in general. Therefore, it is only just that she continues to rake in sponsorship deals by the dozen.

This coming season, those endorsement deals could go through the roof. Her impact on other sports has been evident and if she can back it up with a stellar MVP or a championship run, expect those numbers to rise up exponentially. Only then can anyone say that she has been fairly compensated.

But they could start with a salary that is better than that of an average pickleball player. The new CBA could push the league average salary to more than double what she earns now. However, the team owners have to approve of it before it materializes.