Nike Accused of Failing Caitlin Clark by Former Employee

Nike Accused of Failing Caitlin Clark by Former Employee originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

When it comes to popularity in women’s basketball, Indiana Fever second-year guard Caitlin Clark is surely on top of the list.

Her college clashes at Iowa saw her headline two of the most-watched women’s college basketball games ever, with her 2024 Elite Eight win over LSU attracting as many as 16 million viewers. In the same year, she attracted 2.4 million viewers in what is dubbed to be the most-watched WNBA Draft.

She has more than lived up to the hype in the WNBA, winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award last season and being one of the front-runners for MVP this season. Although she’s currently considered to be one of the faces of the league, Clark is missing something off the court that Angel Reese, her classmate, possesses.

Earlier in the week, it was announced that the Chicago Sky forward is set to release a signature sneaker on June 4 with Reebok. Although Clark has an eight-year deal with Nike worth $28 million, fans have been underwhelmed with the sporting apparel giant’s efforts to capitalize on Clark.

Many have begun questioning why Clark doesn’t already have a signature shoe, and fans aren’t the only ones voicing their displeasure. Former Brand Marketing Director for Nike Basketball, Jordan Rogers, took to social media to shred his former employer’s handling of Clark.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts to the action Saturday.© Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“You have the single biggest needle mover in all of American sports since Michael Jordan, and you have somehow convinced yourself that you need to slow-play this,” said Rogers.

Rogers also questioned their efforts to market less popular NBA players more than Clark.

“I am so confused as to how you would be so invested in the WNBA for several years and you’ve been doing great work trying to elevate and uplift that league and many of the athletes,” Rogers said. “But this seems like you have convinced yourself that this needs to be an either-or conversation. And we never have an either-or conversation in the men’s sports, you have like 10 signature athletes, half of them don’t deserve a signature shoe.”

Rogers expressed that he thinks Nike is afraid of the possible backlash it’d face due to the controversy surrounding Clark in the media. However, he did point out how companies such as Gatorade, State Farm and Wilson have all done a much better job in maximizing the value of the WNBA’s “unicorn” superstar.

Only time will tell if Nike gets the message, but the demand is there.