The unprecedented attention Caitlin Clark has brought to women’s basketball has also put the massive salary disparity between the WNBA and the NBA under the microscope.

The University of Iowa star was taken by the Indiana Fever with the No. 1 overall pick of the WNBA draft on April 15 after a season in which she set records on the court and in the television ratings for women’s basketball.

She is expected to sign a four-year, $338,000 contract with the Fever as part of the WNBA’s rookie wage scale, according to Spotrac, a site that tracks player contracts across multiple sports.

She will earn $76,535 in her rookie season this summer, which has many Clark fans outraged at the relatively small number given her impact on the sport.

Many Clark fans weighed in on social media and expressed dismay at her low pay compared to what NBA draft picks make.

“These ladies deserve so much more…Praying for the day,” Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson wrote on X.

“Aint no reason i should have a higher salary than Caitlin Clark man,” another fan wrote.

“To everyone trashing Caitlin Clark’s salary, I agree and want better for them,” another person wrote.

TODAY’s Hoda Kotb also did a double take when she saw that salary figure, compared to the life-changing riches that top NBA draft picks earn.

“When I saw the number, $76,000 in the first year and $78,000 in the second year, and $85,000 in the third year, for somebody who is now the face of women’s basketball, it seemed kind of ridiculous,” Hoda said on TODAY Tuesday. “A guy who is in the NBA, first year, they can get $10 million.”

The No. 1 overall pick in last year’s NBA draft, San Antonio Spurs rookie star Victor Wembanyama, has a four-year, $55 million contract in which he earned $12.1 million in his first season, according to Spotrac.

While Clark will most likely make millions from endorsements, there is a huge gulf between her salary and her NBA counterparts.

Stephen Master, a professor of sports marketing and media at NYU’s Stern School of Business, said the primary way for the WNBA to boost pay is to get a larger television contract and increase ticket sales.

“There just hasn’t been enough time to catch up in terms of those media rights deals,” Master, who also worked for the NBA and the ratings firm Nielsen, tells TODAY.com. “Those deals are done so long in advance, and they’re looking at historical numbers when they’re evaluating bids on those rights.

“The NBA’s deal is based on the history of the NBA drawing a certain level of viewership and sponsorship, selling out arenas, and being an overall part of the zeitgeist.”

The league hopes Clark will be a driving force in that push, as 36 of the Fever’s 40 games will be on national television this season.

The hype over Clark’s addition to the Fever was so high that the team packed its home arena with fans watching the draft on Monday night, even though the event was in New York City.

The WNBA currently makes about $60 million a year from its media rights, a contract that’s set to expire in 2025, according to Front Office Sports.

In comparison, the NBA is in the midst of a $24 billion television deal that pays $2.7 billion annually. Plus, the league is expected to command between $60 billion and $72 billion when it renegotiates its TV deal this summer, according to Sports Business Journal.

For WNBA salaries to get in the ballpark with NBA salaries, Master said, viewership needs to rise dramatically.

“(The rise in ratings) can’t be 5-10 percent,” Master said. “It needs to be like 400 or 500 percent growth.

“If Caitlin Clark is able to help take this to a billion-dollar entity, she should get paid, and all the players should get paid more,” he said. “The pie would be much bigger to split.”

Hannah Stuelke had an impressive night against UConn on Friday. The forward played a crucial role in the Iowa Final Four victory, scoring 23 points in the game, more than any other player. She made up for Caitlin Clark’s struggle against the Huskies in the first half of the game.

Even the collegiate athletics governing body was shocked at the performance of Stuelke against the Huskies.

After what was an electric performance for the forward on Friday night, the NCAA invited her for a drug test to confirm whether the performance was clean and fair.

The result of the test was negative, clearing Hannah Stuelke of playing under the influence of any illegal substance. The forward made it known that she didn’t go to bed until 2:30 a.m. due to the delay caused by the drug testing following the Hawkeyes’ hard-fought win.

A brilliant season for Hannah Stuelke

It’s been a fantastic season for Hannah Stuelke at Iowa in 2023-24. Despite Caitlin Clark making all the headlines, the sophomore forward has played a crucial role in the Hawkeyes team’s success this season. She made that more evident in the Final Four encounter against the Huskies on Friday.

Stuelke has been involved in 34 games for Iowa this season, starting 31 of them.

She is averaging 14.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, a significant improvement from her freshman season.

The trajectory is expected to move upward in the coming years.

Iowa will need Stuelke to be 100% when they come up against South Carolina in the national championship game on Sunday. The Gamecocks are undefeated so far this season and have their eyes on the national title. The Hawkeyes will hope to repeat their win over them in the 2023 Final Four.

A leadership role for Hannah Stuelke in the team next season

There will be a lot of changes in the Iowa setup next season. With the likes of Caitlin Clark, Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin bowing out of college basketball after the national championship game, Hannah Stuelke is expected to assume a prominent leadership role.

She’s definitely someone head coach Lisa Bluder will count on as the Hawkeyes begin life after Caitlin Clark next season.

Following an impressive sophomore season with the team, Stuelke has proven she’ll be vital to Iowa’s success in her final two years of eligibility in the landscape.

Connor McCaffery and Caitlin Clark (Photos via Getty Images)

Basketball can bring you some extreme highs and although you might be one of the best to ever do it, it does not guarantee you a championship like Caitlin Clark found out in college.

South Carolina rained on Caitlin Clark’s parade, with the Iowa superstar failing to end her college career on a high with an NCAA championship win ahead of the WNBA Draft later this month, as the Gamecocks are crowned as this year’s national champs.

The 22-year-old Clark – NCAA’s all-time leading scorer for both men and women – made 10 of 28 shots which included 5 of 13 3-pointers and finished off her four-year career with 3,951 points. She also had five assists.

Clark played in the final game of her college basketball career but the moment was made special after her longtime boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, sent a heartfelt message on social media.

“My GOAT,” he wrote on his Instagram story that featured Caitlin Clark walking to the tunnel after the game.

Despite Sunday’s loss for the Hawkeyes, Clark’s run to a second straight NCAA Championship game further helped push women’s basketball into another stratosphere.

Just her being on the court set a new TV ratings record for women’s college basketball twice in the last week alone, with another record likely waiting once the numbers from Sunday come out.

Women’s college basketball is certainly going to miss her, but she now has bigger fish to fry in the next phase of her life.

Caitlin Clark Can Forever Change The State of The WNBA

Caitlin Clark (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Despite some of the older players in the WNBA seemingly taking shots or not fully supporting Caitlin Clark, she is that one person who could become the Stephen Curry or Michael Jordan of the women’s professional league and could forever change the direction of the WNBA.

If Clark turns out to be just as good if not better in the WNBA, everyone will reap the benefits of it.