Iowa's Caitlin Clark becomes first female athlete to have exclusive deal with Panini
Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark landed another endorsement deal, signing a multi-year contract with Panini, it was announced Wednesday.
Clark, the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer, becomes the first female athlete to have an exclusive partnership with Panini, one of the prominent sports and entertainment collectibles companies that features trading cards and signed memorabilia.
“Caitlin is a generational talent, and it is natural that she should be our first multi-year exclusive female athlete,” Panini senior vice president of marketing and athlete relations Jason Howarth said in a news release. "We’ll have a range of products and memorabilia featuring Caitlin that we believe fans will love.”
While the deal with Panini begins now, her trading card exclusivity with the company begins April 1.
The initial products from Panini featuring Clark "will be a collection of multiple cards celebrating different points in her career, including her first Panini Instant Card celebrating the moment she became the all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball. Panini will also release a dedicated Caitlin Clark trading card product that will be available for pre-order beginning in April," according to the company.
Clark also adds to her list of expanding partnerships as she prepares for her final college basketball games and gets ready for the WNBA. She also has deals with State Farm, Nike, Bose Corporation, Buick, H&R Block, Gatorade and Gainbridge, which has the arena naming rights to the building where the NBA's Indiana Pacers and WNBA's Indiana Fever play. The Fever happen to have the No. 1 pick in the April draft.
On Sunday, Clark became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball, and on Feb. 15, she passed former Washington All-American Kelsey Plum as the all-time leading NCAA women’s basketball Division I scorer.