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Today At A Glance:

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese went viral after the NCAA Women’s Championship Game for their back-and-forth battle on the court (along with some trash-talking theatrics), and their impact from that game and tournament is still being felt across sports. This newsletter will summarize the impact Clark and Reese have had on their respective schools. We’ll look at everything from ticket sales, donations, NIL deals, social media, and more.

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Friends,

Last year’s women’s college basketball national championship game between LSU and Iowa had the type of storylines that television executives can only dream about.

On one side, you had sharpshooter Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Clark had just put up back-to-back 41-point games against the country’s #5 and #1 teams, and many were comparing her historic run to Stephen Curry’s Elite Eight run in 2008.

And on the other side, you had Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers. Reese was averaging 23 points per game and 15 rebounds per game on 52 percent shooting. And recently hired LSU head coach Kim Mulkey was looking to win her 4th NCAA National Championship — and first since arriving at LSU after 21 years as head coach at Baylor.

And the game didn’t disappoint. Caitlin Clark scored 30 points, while Angel Reese recorded another double-double. And nearly 10 million people watched LSU beat Iowa to win the National Championship. That was a 103% increase from the previous year, and it was the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history.

But that’s only half the story. That NCAA National Championship game, and the games leading up to it, turned Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese into national celebrities.

They have made millions in NIL money since, and their rivalry is just getting started.

Angel Reese Parlayed Her Popularity Into Millions

Angel Reese ignited a feud online after using Caitlin Clark’s “you can’t see me” taunt during the national championship game. Some people said it was classless, while others loved her trash talk. But most importantly, those theatrics led to opportunities.

Angel Reese has gained 2 million followers on Instagram since the championship game — from 450,000 followers to 2.4 million (+454%). And when you add her 2.5 million followers on TikTok, Reese has built one of the biggest brands in college sports.

This popularity has enabled her to sign nearly 30 NIL deals, including partnerships with Amazon, Sports Illustrated, PlayStation, Raising Cane’s, Bose, Sonic, Wingstop, McDonald’s, Coach, Airbnb, and Mercedes-Benz. And it’s estimated that Angel Reese has already made $1.7 million from these NIL deals over the last twelve months.

And that might only be the beginning — because Angel Reese also sells merchandise on her website after filing a trademark for “Bayou Barbie.” She appeared in the music video for Latto’s song “Put it on Da Floor Again” featuring Cardi B, and she most certainly played a role in LSU’s new $1 million-plus stadium renovation plan.

In fact, Angel Reese is so popular right now that her $1.6 million NIL valuation ranks fifth among all college athletes, sitting behind only Bronny James, Livvy Dunne, Arch Manning, and Caleb Williams.

Caitlin Clark Transformed Iowa Basketball

Angel Reese and LSU walked away with the National Championship last year. But Caitlin Clark had a more impressive tournament, at least personally.

Caitlin Clark set the single tournament record for scoring (191 points), assists (60), and 3-pointers (32), and she also won the Naismith Player of the Year award.

This helped her gain more than 500,000 followers on Instagram — her account went from 200,000 followers to 736,000 (+268%). And Clark has turned that into at least $1 million in NIL deals, signing partnerships with huge companies like Nike, Buick, Bose, Goldman Sachs, H&R Block, Topps, and Hy-vee.

Caitlin Clark’s Skills Camps in Des Moines and Iowa City also sold out in a matter of hours, and thousands of people followed her and Ryder Cup Captain Zach Johnson when she played in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic Pro-Am this past July in Iowa.

But Caitlin Clark’s biggest impact is yet to come. That’s because Clark is returning to Iowa this year for her senior season — and Hawkeye fans couldn’t be more excited.

For example, Iowa women’s basketball sold out its season tickets for the first time in program history this year. All 13,000 tickets to the men’s and women’s doubleheader on December 16 sold out in just 90 minutes, with many tickets now being marked up +100% to +400% on secondary platforms like SeatGeek.

“The Caitlin Clark effect is undeniable,” Iowa Events Center general manager Chris Connolly told Hawkeye Report. “Look, if you’re a Hawkeye fan, what an opportunity. You can knock the competition, but the women’s team just went to the national championship and came within a hair of winning the whole thing. When have we seen that? … I don’t know if there’s a more popular person in women’s sports than Caitlin.”

Even more impressive, the Iowa women’s basketball team is hosting a scrimmage to start the season at the school’s football field. And they expect more than 30,000 fans to show up, which would break the all-time attendance record for women’s basketball.

I wanted to talk about Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark today because they are at the forefront of college sports — regardless of male or female.

But this feels like a massive moment for women’s college basketball in general.

The introduction of NIL has enabled these players to earn more than they would at the professional level — Jackie Young is the highest-paid WNBA player at $252,000 per year — and has created budding rivalries nationally between superstar players.

So it’ll be interesting to see if women’s college basketball can carry the momentum into this season. Many other teams will challenge LSU and Iowa (South Carolina, Stanford, Texas, UConn, and Tennessee, to name a few). But superstars are what draw the biggest audiences, and it’s hard to argue anyone is bigger than Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.

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I hope everyone has a great day. We’ll talk on Friday.

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Huddle Up is a 3x weekly newsletter that breaks down the business and money behind sports. If you are not already a subscriber, sign up and join 100,000+ others who receive it directly in their inbox each week.