How the Indiana Fever Immediately Capitalized on the ‘Caitlin Clark Effect’ With Merchandise

Brendan Menapace

University of Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark took the sports world by storm with her other-worldly ability to sink threes from just about anywhere on the floor, ending her time at Iowa as the Division I career and single-season leader in points and three-pointers.

Now that she’s done with the collegiate game, though, Clark is taking both her jump shot and marketability to the professional level, having been drafted first overall in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever. Just hours after Clark’s name was called, stores around Indiana were already selling Caitlin Clark-branded merchandise like jerseys and shirts.

It was a pretty safe bet that the Fever would pick Clark, so it’s not like the apparel decorators took a huge gamble by cueing up Clark apparel.

Shortly after the announcement, the team itself announced the “Caitlin Clark Collection” of merchandise, which is currently for sale on the team’s official store.

The line includes No. 22 T-shirts, shirts with the outline of Clark dribbling with the Fever logo in the top right, Fever hats with “Clark 22” embroidered on the side, Shirts commemorating her as the No. 1 draft pick, and multiple shirts with the Fever logo alongside “The Clark Effect.”

The Clark Effect seems to be a real thing. No other player drafted in the WNBA first round had merchandise rollouts like this, despite other superstar players like LSU’s Angel Reese and national champion Kamilla Cardoso. At least not yet. There’s still time for their teams to roll out the merchandise wagons, but it’s impressive how quickly Indiana capitalized on the “Caitlin Clark Effect,” not to be confused with the Taylor Swift Effect.

And, once the season gets underway and Clark starts hitting threes from the hinterland, the team and league will no doubt keep the marketing train rolling.

Clark did major in Marketing at Iowa, after all. She’s no dummy.

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