$234,850 sale helps Caitlin Clark break another WNBA record

Caitlin Clark hasn't taken the court in months but continues making history. The Indiana Fever guard has been one of the most important female athletes of the year — and we're not talking only about sports.

In a recent auction at Goldin, a card from Clark's rookie season went for $234,850.

That's the highest valuation for any WNBA player in history and the second-highest price someone has ever paid for a female athlete card.

Caitlin Clark was responsible for 26.5% of the WNBA's revenue

Caitlin Clark's financial impact has been unprecedented. According to Dr. Ryan Brewer, a renowned valuation expert and associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, she was responsible for over a quarter of the WNBA's revenue last season.

"The numbers are so staggering," Brewer said on Tuesday, via the Indianapolis Star. "They don't even seem real."

Clark is credited for 26.5% of the league's financial earnings last season. That includes merchandise sales, television and attendance. One of every six tickets sold at WNBA arenas last season can be attributed to her.

Total viewership was up 300%, and 45% of total broadcast value came from Indiana Fever games, with league sales spiking up 500% and Clark being at the top of the list.

The Fever became the first WNBA team to host more than 300,000 fans in a single season, averaging more than 17,000 per game. Games Clark played drew 1.2 million viewers on average, which was almost 200% more than games in which she didn't play.

"Now, let's take a breath for a minute and think about this," Brewer said. "That's for one year. We're talking about one player."

Brewer also talked about the financial impact she made on the city of Indianapolis, which he believes was upwards of $36 million last season alone. Unfortunately, that won't necessarily mean she'll get a fair cut of that revenue.

"As this continues to materialize, the corporate side, the business side, not the players union, but the other sides, are going to continue to watch to see that these numbers can stabilize and maintain rather than just spike and drop again," Brewer said. "That's what they're afraid of. And that's what's keeping the numbers low."

Clark's salary was $76,535, and the league's CBA won't allow her to make much more money off of her WNBA contract for now. Victor Wembanyama, his rookie counterpart in the NBA, made $13.8 million last season.