Hey Nike, Where the $&#* is the Caitlin Clark Shoe?

Welcome to December. Christmas is right around the corner and retailers usually go all out to get you to spend your hard-earned money on gifts for friends and family. But one company has screwed themselves out of millions of dollars this holiday season. Nike. The Swoosh logo needs to be hung upside down in distress because they have botched one of the greatest endorsement opportunities in sports history. Nike...WHERE ARE MY CAITLIN CLARK SIGNATURE SHOES?

The lack of Clark's signature Nike shoe is compounded again this week with the release of Paige Buecker's new Nike PE shoe. It comes out on Saturday, December 7th. While this isn't a signature show, Bueckers did get to design it herself. It even features her nickname 'Buckets'. Precious.

Listen, Bueckers is a great player. She's likely to be drafted #1 overall in next year's WNBA Draft. If it weren't for injuries she'd be in the league now. But it is yet another player getting a shoe before Caitlin Clark. Is this part of Nike's strategy?

This week, Clark debuted at #10 on the list of the list of the highest-paid female athletes, earning $11.1 million. Most of that money, $11 million to be exact, came off her endorsement deals according to the New York Post. It was also revealed this week that Clark was responsible for over 26% of the WNBA's league-wide activity for the year, including attendance, merchandise sales, and television ratings. According to Fox News, 1 in six WNBA tickets sold last season can be attributed to Caitlin Clark.

Nike signed Clark to a historic deal worth $28 million after she left the University of Iowa. Where is the merch? Caitlin Clark isn't just a basketball player. She is an icon. A movement in sports that must be capitalized on. She should have her own shoes, her own logo, her own line of merchandise. And Nike should see those items flying off the shelves this holiday season.

But hey, perhaps this is why I'm sitting here and not working for Nike. I'm sure they're planning on releasing Clark's signature shoe before the start of the WNBA season next Spring. If not then...when?

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