“The average salary for WNBA players is a little north of $100k.”
Clark, one of the highest paid NIL, gave up another year at Iowa to go pro.
Average salary is more like $75 to $80,000
I read Caitlin Clark made $795,000 in NIL money. She made less than 10% of that in her first year WNBA salary, which was just $76,000. So, just on that, she took a huge pay cut. She played four years in college. Because of COVID, she could have had another year of eligibility, but it's not like she left early. She even played 30 games her freshman year. So, she may not have felt the need to play another year.
But don't worry, I don't think she's making less money, because, besides her WNBA salary, she's making a lot of money in endorsements.
She might as well be playing in the WNBA for free. She's making her real money in endorsements, merchandise, etc., she just needs to be playing in the WNBA now to make that money.