Caitlin Clark’s Autographed WNBA Rookie Card Sells for Eye-Popping Amount
stevek
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Caitlin Clark’s Autographed WNBA Rookie Card Sells for Eye-Popping Amount
The Indiana Fever’s decision to draft Caitlin Clark with the #1 overall pick has paid off in more ways than one: She’s had the most historic, record-breaking season in WNBA history, she’s led the Fever to the playoffs, and now, her autographed rookie card has sold for a record amount.
Clark’s rookie card has sold at auction for $84,000, breaking the record of $78,000 set earlier this year for an autographed 2022 Bowman University Caitlin Clark Superfractor.
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Wow -- I think that is close to her annual salary!
If Caitlin has any card collector investment acumen,
she may have bought her own rookie cards. 😊
The MIchael Jordan of the WNBA. The Fever just need an enforcer before a career ending injury happens. From getting tackled to eye gouging, its silly.
I watch a ton of NBA & the W and you are exactly correct. The current W feels a lot like the NBA was in the 80s/90s with a lot of physical play to the point of being borderline dangerous.
Don't take this personal but your comment is silly. Clark would not make a good NCAA men's hoops team. There are ample men high school players that could easily beat her in a one on one. The WNBA has always been a joke of a league. Without the NBA subsidizing it the league would have folded years ago.
I work in law enforcement and work with hundreds of die hard sport fans. Not one watches the WNBA.
I'm not taking it personally because I know she'd never make any men's team (I also never said that). What I said was that the W feels physical the way the League was back then. Comparing the type of play doesn't imply they're the same level of play.
I'll try to be more clear in the future though to avoid these confusions.
I agree you never said that and I apologize if it sounds like I accused you of that. Like millions of sports fans I'm sick of the networks/media trying to push this trash on us. I was watching a college football game last week on ESPN and at the bottom of the page on the ticker it said TOP NEWS and started talking about a WNBA game. 99.999% of sports fans watching college football don't care about the WNBA and for ESPN claiming that a WNBA game was top news for the day is insane.
The Fever draw was 17k a game and the average WNBA game had 1.2mm tv viewers.
She has invigorated that league, your cop buddies are secret WNBA fans I bet.
I don’t follow the league but pretty ignorant to call it trash.
Not sure where you intrepreted anything about a woman playing in the NBA. Nobody is talking about that. I work in the military and work with hundreds of die hard sports fans. In between firing machine guns and guns that go boom, I'm sure more than a few watch the WNBA because of Caitlan Clark. There were 1.8 million viewers watching the Fever game on Sunday of all days. Never understimate what girls and women will watch. So dont take this personally but your comments are ignorant. Knowledge is power!
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the Fever game on Wednesday breaks the all-time WNBA record of 5.04 million viewers. Heck, it could double that.
In my view as far as card collecting and investing, the much more interesting aspect of the opening post is what may be the future value of Caitlin Clark's basketball cards. I think it's a very tough call. Could be boom or bust?
My two cents on this. Firstly, there are a lot of women's basketball teams out there in high school. college, etc, and they are very popular with those fans. While women themselves at least at this point, don't seem to make up a large segment of card collecting, it's not hard to envision their fathers, husbands, etc, who do collect cards, wanting to buy their basketball playing daughters, wives, etc, a nice Caitlin Clark card for a present. This in my opinion would not only increase the value of all of her cards moving forward, but if there are two whale fathers bidding on the same 1/1 type card for their daughter, the price could go to the moon.
Plus with the popularity of Caitlin Clark, it could increase the number of card collecting women in the marketplace. That alone would naturally increase the demand and value for Caitlin Clark cards as well as other cards.
Now the caveat as far as investing a lot of money in Caitlin Clark cards, particularly with the nosebleed values. She has already become wealthy from endorsements, etc. Her WNBA salary that she is making now is probably only a pittance to her. So if she gets injured, it may lessen her desire to continue playing even when she gets healthy. Also as a woman, since she already has all the money she will ever need, she may instead decide to retire from basketball and start a family.
Bottom line the way i see it. If Caitlin has a long successful career consisting of a good number of years, some of her key cards could become mansion buying money. If she retires early, possibly very early, then it was likely a failed investment if you're in at the very high prices.
The way she's getting mugged out there, I wouldn't doubt she retires earlier than normal. For right now though, she's only 22 and aspires to be an Olympian. So we still have her for another 4 years. Her sticking around is probably going to come down to the team management building a championship caliber team around her. They actually are really, really close already. They need an enforcer and depth on the bench.
Did you lose a bet and have to say this? The league is trash and would go out of business if the NBA was not paying for it. Again not one of my worker buddies watches it and I have never met one person in my entire life that watches it. I have three daughters that enjoy watching sports and they won't watch it.
Talk with me when the entire league can show a profit for 2 consecutive years. Comparing her to Jordan in any way is asinine.
LOL ok. Today was the first day in my life that someone actually claimed they watch the league and you convinced me. The WNBA is a solid league that will continue to grow and show nice profits over the next decade. The majority of the women who play in the league are extremely attractive, intelligent, and love our country.
Now back to reality - We can continue this discussion in 2-3 years and see if the league is showing a profit. Let's see if regular sports dudes will spend a Saturday night watching this trash. I say no but if the data proves me wrong I will be happy to admit I'm wrong. Regarding this year the first year of the so called boom, the league will still lose close to 50 million. The league would fold without the help of the NBA and that's not an opinion.
Not only do I watch it but we have season tickets to the local NWSL team.
True the NBA does support it but they're expanding to more teams and TV ratings are also rising.
There's 1.
All things considered... fewer Old Spice commercials wouldn't hurt.
Just surveyed the boys at the rock quarry and none of them watch it. Therefore it’s trash.
Funny that no one has yet mentioned how the NBA itself was on the verge of collapse in the late 70s until TV coverage helped to reinvigorate the game while Bird and Magic were still in college and then turned pro hoops into a celebrity circus.
Gobble.
So true. The 1970's NBA that I watched as a kid -- we had season tickets to the Lakers -- were incredibly physical. Lots of fights, cheap shots & brawls that never saw the light of day as they weren't televised. And often, if you fought, you weren't ejected -- just offsetting technicals. And similar to hockey, teams carried enforcers. After the Kermit Washington/Rudy Tomjanovich incident -- a game that I was at as a 12 year old kid & will be forever etched in my memory -- the NBA finally started cracking down on the violence as the league was on the brink. I also vividly recall the '79 Lakers-Sonics playoff series where you had to stay up till 11:30 PM when CBS would show the game video. The Lakers got schooled by "Downtown" Freddy Brown. Magic & Larry joined as rookies prior to next season & things literally changed overnight. They set the foundation but Jordan took it to the next level.
But even in 1994, I recall a Sports Illustrated cover article where they predicated that the NHL would overtake the NBA as the 3rd most popular sport. The Rangers were on their way to winning the Cup & the NHL was end to end action & refs allowed the players to decide the game.
Fast forward to today & while I've only watched a handful of WNBA games (as the play is still so bad IMO), it resembles more like what the NBA used to!
If those ladies start alley-ooping and slam dunking their way into our hearts, I'm certain a whole lotta worker buddies will be watching.
Gobble.
I absolutely agree the level of play is inconsistent (and that's kind), but if you've been watching for a while you'll notice it's generally better than it was even 6 or 8 years ago. It's getting a lot better and there are quite a few foreign players coming in who are just straight ballers. Fiebisch for NY is one for sure.
Give it another 10/15 years for the youth leagues, etc... to really catch up and the quality of play will be more consistently good. You can also see a huge improvement in the college game if you (like me) watch those.
Are you comparing the two? If you want to compare it to Men's high school hoops that might make sense. Comparing it to the NBA is asinine.
Bird and Magic and than Jordan saved the NBA. True story in 1979 the Lakers were playing game 6 of the NBA championship at Philadelphia. I live in Southern California and the game was on TAPE DELAY hours after the game ended.
Can't be true. The game was played in 1980. Magic was the MVP, played center for the injured Abdul-Jabbar and blew the crap outta Philly.
You've got an opinion. No worries. We all do. Mine is that Caitlin Clark is playing a leading role in changing the image of the women's pro game for the better. Whether you like it not.
Gobble.
What did it grade ?
Again, I'm unsure of what you're trying to debate about? I'm talking about Caitlan Clark's effect on the WNBA,not whether or not the WNBA is turning a profit. You'll have to argue with someon else about that. The fact of the matter is, as mentioned above, CC practically doubles the ticket sales AT ALL VENUES she plays at on the road, never mind, sold out at home. The WNBA has to change stadiums to accomodate the crowd which is usually in the 20k range. The price of tickets for 2024 Fever games is more than WNBA Finals games. Viewsership of televsied Fever games is up there to. So in the long tyerm, as long as she's playing at the level or higher she is, the WNBA will see growth. IMO, she is the culmination of Steph Curry, Kobe and MJ all in one, withthe Bird/Magic effect, for the women's game. Her impact will be on the world level and we will see women's basketball and the hobby grow because of her.
I think it’s cool for the WNBA. I’ve caught a little bit of games here and there but I’m not watching more than a few minutes. I do think it’s nice that more girls have opportunities for careers in sports so I hope the league continues to see more and more talent to sustain interest. I also don’t know if anyone that I work with watches.
.
It was true. It took place during the 79-80 season. My opinion of the WNBA is based on data. The league loses millions every season. I personally don't know one person who watches it - not one which is backed up by the ratings. If you like watching it good for you but the league would be out of business without the NBA paying for it which again is a fact.
I could care less if Caitlin changes the game for the better. I have no interest in the league and could care less if it becomes more popular or not. I don't watch because the play is horrendous. A really good men's high school team could easily win the WNBA title.
Contrived rarities do absolutely nothing for me, but to each his own.
A really good men's high school team could defeat another really good men's high school team. You're conflating the issue. The women's game is evolving on its own. Caitlin's team got booted out tonight. Kid needs a break anyways. Playing at a high level for a year without much down time is a professionals life. Can't wait to see her play again next season.
Eye-popping money is just the card market being itself. As shag said "to each his own". Or hers.
Gobble.
I too am tired of espn making out like the wnba is the greatest thing ever and pushing it down our throats. In the last week of pennant race baseball, college football, pro football and the lead story is this wnba stuff.
One thing has become abundantly clear about the WNBA this season.
Despite their supposed desire for mainstream acceptance, the majority of the league doesn’t want that. They want their little club to stay the way it is.
You literally have players complaining that the league needs to address twitter trolls making hateful social media posts about them. Spoken like someone who no one ever cared enough about to attack online. The majority of them can’t handle mainstream attention, and desperately wish Clark would go away so they could go back to focusing on social Justice activism.
This MIGHT change when salaries actually start to rise substantially. Stay tuned. 🙂
NIelsen ratings came out. Caitlan Clark's final game of the 2024 season:
2.5 million viewers on cable TV
3.4 million peaked
Only behind the first WNBA game ever. She's breaking records.
She's popular and arguably the most popular athlete in the world news-wise not named Ohtani. Definiltey the most popluar female athlete in the world right now.
She's not the most popular athlete in the world. Messi and those soccer guys blow most of the US athletes away in terms of popularity and Q rating. She's probably also not the most popular woman though I haven't checked that. I'd guess one of the Brazilian or Spanish soccer stars is better known world-wide.
That's not to say she's not popular though, because she's a generational talent and personality who is going to reset the entire sport the way Mia Hamm or Cheryl Miller did back in the day.
I'm hopeful the day is coming when you're correct though.
None of what you just said has anything to do what I said. The league lost millions once again this year and I still have never met in person anyone that watches this league. Maybe things will change next season or the season after but for the reasons I mentioned it probably won't.
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Why can't folks just like it for what it is? I'm paying attention and watching Fever and Sky games. Angel Reese is a piece of work, but she has occupied the villian role to where watching is compelling. Who cares if the league is losing money now - does that discredit it as a sport on its own? What I've noticed (yes, I've watched) is that the good teams play some solid basketball.
The real question is, now that CC is out of the playoffs, will people care enough to watch the remainder of the playoffs? Those are the metrics I want to see. If there is a significant increase in viewership for these next two rounds, then this season has been a success. You still have some good matchups left - Aja Wilson and Kelsey Plum vs Ionescu on one side and then Collier vs the new villian, Dewanna Bonner, on the other side.
Absolutely true. I've watched every minute of the playoffs and will watch the rest. The regular season is also short enough that I watch a lot of the regular season. The players are good, intense, athletic and have some stone cold killer instincts out there (talking to you, Kelsey Plum).
If you want to see how popular women's sports are just go compare the last 10 years viewership of the WWorld Cup, WFinal 4, the W or the NWSL. Even the Women's EuroCup this summer ran into all sorts of issues because they put all the games in smaller stadiums than the men play and they all sold out causing huge demand issues. I think the Final 4 has been seeing similar viewership as the men but it was also trending the direction before Caitlin came along.
For real, financial evidence the worms are turning just look at what the NWSL's Angel City club recently sold for ($250M) after coming into the league in '22 with a $10M valuation. That's not chump change.
I can hardly even imagine playing in the league where I spend $85K on a card. I hope she has a great career and is a solid hobby pick, but I think that is a bit risky. I guess if you are dropping $85K on any card, you are not overly concerned about risk. I would extend this to any young prospect card in any sport/league though, no dig on the WNBA at all. Too much can happy in a flash that turns that historic purchase into a historic joke meme down the road.
84k. Thats just crazy now. I could find better way to spend 84K. Like on low-mid 52T Mantle. Blue chip.
Well, one is the playoffs, the rest are regular season.
Dude please stop. 99.99999% of sports fans don't care about a WNBA playoff game. Seriously some of you guys are living in fantasy land. I go to Vegas every March Madness since 1985 and not once was a Women's college game on any of the hundreds of TV's in the sports book. If you guys like it that's great but sports fans in general don't care. and they never will. Women don't support the league and men will NEVER support it. Men are visual and will not watch extremely unattractive woman doing anything especially playing a sports at a level that a good men's high school team could beat. My buddies at work are going to have a huge laugh when I show them this thread.
Have a good weekend and I hope some of you enjoy the WNBA games. The rest of us will be wasting our time watching Alabama vs Georgia and the NFL.
All of that to not even be able to refute what I said.
FWIW, I don't watch the WNBA. I'll be watching college football as well.
LOL, who says we can’t watch both?
You're losing it man. This thread is about Caitlan Clark and you come in here with your machismo attitude about the WNBA losing millions. No sh*t. Its nothing new. Nobody cares. We're talking about a generational talent in Caitlan Clark and card values.
You're taking this personal. Nobody is saying women's basketball is better than the NBA or NFL. You're asinine even considering someone is attempting to debate that. Again, this is about Caitlan Clark. You're getting to caught up in the machismo aspect of sports. We get it, you work in a coal mine, lift heavy stuff, dont wash your hands and pick your teeth with bullets. As I stated, the hundreds of Marines I work with, there are some from Iowa, some from Indiana and some with daughters that love basketball. I don't know if you live a sheltered life but there is no denying the Caitlan Clark effect. There is truth to what you are eluding to when you talk about the unattactiveness about the WNBA. It wasn't very appealing for many reasons. But now you have someone that people love to see. That's the bottom line and the jersey sales, ratings, sold out crowds and TV contact prove that. In the sports world we call those statistics. You're detached from the reality of Caitlan Clarkand that's fine. Just try not to form an argument based on the sh*t you' re making up next time.
Personally, I'm not either but someone decided it was worth it. The whales have deep pockets in this hobby. Someone turned down a cool mil for the Tatis Jr. Superfractor and the person who spent $100k+, maybe it was $250k, on a Bowman Chrome 1st Red Refractor Wander, ouch.
I stated "news-wise" but the proper term is "trending". So in this moment in time but obviously with the Fever;s elimination, that'll end here shortly. I understand Messi, Ronaldo's impact just like all the other All-Time greats like Pele, Ali,Tyson, Jordan, Kobe, Steph,LeBron, etc. The difference is Caitlan Clark's journey is just beginning at the professional level.
@Yankees70
You sound like you’re back in 2022. Can’t you at least acknowledge that the league’s popularity has increased substantially in the last couple of years? While it is primarily due to Clark, the overall level of engagement is an order of magnitude higher. Comparing the all-star voting from 2023 and 2024 says it all…
I did many times. The league lost millions once again this year. Without the NBA paying for it the league would have gone under a decade ago. Ticket sales going up and more people watching this year does not change that and once again I'm 60 years old and I hang with over a hundred die hard sports fans and I have never met once person who watches it. Not one.
Count the number of comments in this thread and tell me how many were about her card value. I'm not losing it. I'm actually laughing my ass off when I read some of your comments.