Dave Portnoy has gushed over Caitlin Clark regularly over the last year, with his latest compliment calling the Indiana Fever star Nike’s ‘greatest steal of all time’ for signing her to a $28million shoe deal.
The Barstool boss continued by then referring to Clark as a ‘monster’ with how well her shoe will do for Nike, comparing her to Tiger Woods and Serena Williams as a ‘game-changer’ in sport.
Portnoy also addressed why it appears Nike has not done much to promote Clark since she inked with the company in the spring.
Not surprisingly, Portnoy does not blame Clark’s actions for the lack of promotion.
‘A lot of talk around Nike and how they haven’t really done anything with Caitlin Clark yet,’ Portnoy said Wednesday. ‘Locking up Caitlin Clark at the price they did, I think it was $10million (it’s actually eight years, $28million), greatest steal of alThere are rumors Nike has not done anything because of the toxicity around… and it’s not around Caitlin, Caitlin’s done nothing, it’s all the idiots out there. Caitlin Clark is the golden goose. If Nike has Caitlin Clark, I like Nike.’
‘This theory they are afraid to do anything because of the reverse race-baiters, and all the toxicity, I don’t believe that, I don’t believe it.’
‘Her shoe is going to be a monster, anything they do is going to be a monster. Caitlin Clark is Serena Williams, Tiger Woods… she’s a game-changer. Men, women, everything. Nobody can f**k up Caitlin Clark.’
Clark has been at the forefront of the rise in popularity of women’s basketball, dating back to her junior season at Iowa last year.
The now-Fever point guard took part in the four-highest-rated women’s college basketball games of all-time, then brought her success to the WNBA, with the league setting several television records this season.
For other Clark merchandise, the Indiana Fever’s jersey sales were up nearly 1,200 percent this year compared to the same point last season.