It’s a rare find for collectors, as the card is signed and inscribed with Clark’s scoring total for her rookie season on the Indiana Fever, and also includes a Logowoman patch adorned on WNBA jerseys.
The card started at an extended bidding price of $336,0000—the previous sale price of Clark’s 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signatures Gold Vinyl 1/1 PSA 10 back in March. But when it sold for nearly double that, the collector’s item made history for the most money made at a public auction for a woman athlete—and it’s a far cry from what the superstar makes in one year.
In fact, Clark makes less than the average New Yorker; despite being the number one draft pick in the WNBA last year, she only earned a salary of $76,535 for her first year on the Indiana Fever. That’s a rock-bottom wage for the phenom of women’s basketball, as her card that fetched hundreds of thousands at auction is over 8.6 times higher than her annual pay. Even Clark’s four-year contract, in which she’ll make a total of $338,000, is just about half of the card’s value.
Clark is one of the biggest names in U.S. sports, with fellow stars Cameron Brink, Rickea Jackson, and Angel Reese helping shatter records for the league. But their pay is in stark contrast to their cultural and business impact.
But negotiations fell through, prompting Clark and other WNBA players to wear “Pay us what you owe us” t-shirts ahead of their All-Star game on Saturday last week. The sold-out arena of over 16,000 attendees, and millions of viewers tuning in at home, watched the stars push back against a long-held issue. Right now, WNBA hoopers receive 9.3% of their league’s revenue—in comparison, NBA players reap between 49% and 51% of the league’s basketball-related income.
Fortune has contacted WNBA for comment.
There’s also the option to play overseas; Olympian Brittney Griner made four times her WNBA salary in Russia, earning more than $1 million.
Others without million-dollar brand deals have to resort to juggling part-time jobs. Chiney Ogwumike, who played for the Los Angeles Sparks, has since become a basketball analyst and host for ESPN; Haley Jones, a guard for the Dallas Wings, has also commentated for NBA TV and the WNBA finals. And the Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray has a side-hustle dishing out wings and burgers as the owner of WNB Factory restaurant.
