Caitlin Clark is ‘getting screwed’ in $28million Nike deal and it should start at $80m, insists Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy: ‘It’s STEALING – I hope she has an early opt out’

Dave Portnoy claims Nike are ‘stealing’ from new WNBA star Caitlin Clark after she signed an eight-year, $28million deal that is set to include her own signature shoe.

Clark was first pick at last week’s WNBA Draft, joining Indiana Fever after her time at Iowa, averaging 31.6 points and leading the Hawkeyes to a second straight national championship game

And while a shoe deal was long mooted for the 22-year-old, firmer details surfaced Tuesday with the duration of her deal, and the $28m fee coming her way. But according to Barstool Sports founder Portnoy, it is nowhere near her worth.

‘If people want to complain about Caitlin Clark getting screwed complain about this,’ Portnoy wrote. ‘8 year 28 million deal is STEALING. 8 years 80 million min is her worth and that’s still prob too cheap.

‘I hope she has an early opt out if they don’t pay up when she blows through this deal.’

Terms on Caitlin Clark’s eight-year, $28million Nike agreement emerged on Tuesday

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy was unimpressed, saying the terms are ‘stealing’

Portnoy said that Clark, 22, is worth a deal beginning at around $80million with Nike

He added: ‘Men would 100% buy her sneakers. All girls who play hoop will. Devin Booker got 5 years 50 million. Caitlin is 100x the Star and impact.’

Clark also received offers of $16million over four years from Under Armour and $6million over four years from Adidas, with both including a signature shoe, according to the WSJ.

Clark’s agents were working on the new Nike contract even before she announced she would turn pro instead of return to Iowa for a fifth season under the COVID-19 exemption offered to players in college during the 2020 pandemic season.

Portnoy has made no secret of how much he admires Clark. He flew to Albany to see her Iowa team beat Angel Reese and LSU in the NCAA tournament at the beginning of April and said afterwards that he witnessed ‘greatness’.

Clark’s extra earnings through her Nike deal, regardless of what Portnoy thinks of the worth, are far higher than her WNBA salary ahead of her first season.

She will earn $76,535 in her rookie season at the Fever, with her four-year Indiana deal worth $338,000 altogether.