🏟️ A breakdown of Caitlin Clark's Clarkonomics

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Sports Industry Weekly as we share insights from the top business headlines in the sports industry like:

👟 A new performance basketball sneaker brand has been launched by a Finals MVP and 3-time NBA All-Star.

📚 An NBA MVP and member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team has opened his new middle school academy in his hometown of Los Angeles.

💰 The starting quarterback for a top 25 college football team is stepping away from the program over an NIL dispute.

🏈 This college athletic conference is in rebuilding mode as it seeks to add new powerhouse schools to reclaim its "Conference of Champions" nickname.

A Record Year On and Off The Court

Caitlin Clark finished her debut season by winning the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year and leading the team to secure the 6th seed in the WNBA Playoffs, though they faced a first-round exit.

She played in all 40 games for the Indiana Fever, but had an even greater impact off the court.

The impact of her presence is evident:

🏀 Indiana Fever have set the WNBA record with 643,000 fans in attendance across their home and away games this season.

🔥 Indiana Fever saw their overall attendance up 319% compared to last season.

📊 Home teams saw a 115% increase in ticket sales and even had to relocate to bigger arenas when they hosted the Indiana Fever.

💰 WNBA’s merch sales went up 450%, led by Caitlin Clark jerseys.

📺 100% increase in league viewership across national TV networks.

📈 Game 1 of the Fever-Sun was the ESPN’s Most watched WNBA playoff game ever with 1.8M average viewership, compared to 425K across the three WNBA playoff openers.

The league is at its peak popularity with stars like A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese leading the way.

With Paige Bueckers, Juju Watkins, and Flau'jae Johnson up next — the smart money is on the WNBA’s expansion and league growth.

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👟 Jaylen Brown revealed he turned down over $50 million dollars in sneaker endorsement deals to have full independence, creativity and ownership in his new sneaker company 741 Performance.

📚 Russell Westbrook unveiled his new Westbrook Academy, which serves students in grades 6-12 in South Los Angeles. The campus features a film studio, science labs, wellness centers, and a student lounge.

⚽️ This year has seen a remarkable surge in growth for the NWSL across attendance, viewership, and engagement, marking the third consecutive season of surpassing these milestones.

✨ A’ja Wilson earned a unanimous MVP award, capping off a remarkable year both on and off the court. The 3-time WNBA MVP is also a savvy entrepreneur, a New York Times Bestselling author, the cover athlete for NBA 2K25, and a co-founder of a business venture with her mom, Eva Wilson.

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💰 The starting quarterback for UNLV, Matthew Sluka, is leaving the Top 25 ranked college football team due to unmet payment promises from team coaches and the school’s NIL collective. Is the future of NIL quickly evolving to pay-for-play?

🔥 The Miami Heat announced a multi-million-dollar stadium renovation for Kaseya Center. A new giant flame ball scoreboard structure, retractable seating, and other arena upgrades should by completed by October 7th to start the new NBA season.

🏈 Utah State accepted an invitation to join the newly formatted Pac-12, joining Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Oregon State and Washington State. The conference is still looking to set itself up as the most competitive conference outside of the Power Four — the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.

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