Like most people who are now watching the WNBA, I got there exclusively because of Caitlin Clark. Also like most of the new fans, I stopped watching after her team was eliminated in the playoffs. Her name is a hot topic in sports reporting and especially with YouTube videos because most people want to see what she is all about but don't care enough to actually watch an entire game.
Many content creators have been using this Caitlin-craze to create shock headlines about her and what her future is and are giving gullible fans some bad information because they take the videos at face value instead of reading into it further.
src
Some of the more popular headlines go like this
Caitlin Clark has had enough, she's leaving the WNBA
or
Caitlin Clark headed to play in Europe after this season
This gives people the impression that she has cancelled her contract with the WNBA and this gets people worked up because she was indeed mistreated by other players and the WNBA league and many people in the comments are celebrating the fact that she is quitting WNBA and is going off to play basketball professionally in Europe instead. Hooray! Right?
Well unfortunately for all those people that took the bait Caitlin Clark is not leaving the WNBA for Europe or anywhere else.
The clickbait YouTube videos are annoying to people like me who actually bother to dig into the details because they just talk over and over without revealing any actual information and they have a series of clips going on in the background that normally aren't even related to what they are talking about. I don't produce YouTube content but I think that a video has to be a certain length before it pays out a certain amount and views are what the name of the game is. These videos because of their creative "fake news" headlines get a ton of views but are just completely filled with misinformation.
Here's one of the annoying videos in question. I don't know what 96,000 views gets a person because this video contains zero good information and most of it is very misleading. No, Caitlin Clark is not going to play basketball in Europe but I suppose in a way their headline is actually true because she is off to play in the LPGA Pro/Am tournament that is taking place in Europe.
src
So yes, she is going to play in a league in Europe and therefore the headline is technically correct because the LPGA is a league. WNBA fans are not shocked though, that part is made up.
This one isn't as bad but she definitely used Caitlin's image to drum up some sort of view that she wouldn't have gotten otherwise. At least she is a bit forthcoming in the description where she states that Gabby Williams actually IS quitting the WNBA to go and play in Europe. Caitlin on the other hand, isn't going anywhere.
So here is what is happening with Caitlin Clark and you should know it before you go and watch some long-winded video that is unnecessarily over 15 minutes long.
- Clark is staying in the WNBA
- Clark is keeping her contract with the Indiana Fever
- Clark is not playing basketball with any team during the off season
- Clark is traveling to Europe to participate in the LPGA pro/am during the off season and probably do some relaxing and vacationing in that time as well
- Clark is not ditching her endorsement deal with Nike
Clark has a $28 million deal with Nike. She has no deal with Adidas and likely isn't allowed to have one because of her contract with Nike. She also doesn't swear in interviews and would never say "Fuck Nike." Adidas offered Caitlin a $6 million signature shoe deal which she rejected about a year ago. This is all fake news.
YouTube isn't exactly where you should go if you are looking for factual information but I've never seen one person targeted so much for clickbait vids. These videos are almost always AI voiced and are easy to identify very early on because they don't even address what is in the headline at all.
Caitlin Clark isn't going anywhere. She is just taking time off until Aprli of next year when the new Indiana Fever season starts. And that is the end of the story. Don't buy into the hype like so many of the idiots in the comments section of these videos.
It is all about click today with no real facts. I can only imagine if she did go to Europe how it would mess up the WNBA ad they would all be begging for her return. The saving grace is the European league would not be as big and financially viable for this to happen.
I think that girl could go and play anywhere and people would tune in. Her salary re-negotiations are going to be wild when her contract is up. She will set another record when that comes around as she will likely be the highest paid woman basketball player of all time. I bet the European markets will throw their hat in the ring as well but her going overseas is probably something that if she does it at all, would be something that happens a decade from now. Even though WNBA is a bit of a financial nightmare and doesn't make money (yet) it still draws in far more people than any other women sport market in other countries.