Caitlin Clark is a perfect fit as a Nike athlete. The competitive fire that she has within her burns brighter every single day. CC has put in the work, she has put in the hours, and she’s here to show the fruits of her labor. However, her newest campaign with Nike was a big hit-or-miss. To some, it was one of the greatest advertisements of all time, and to others, it was quite mediocre.

On the podcast Pat Gray Unleashed, show hosts Pat Gray and Brad Meltzer tore down CC’s latest endeavor with Nike, pulling no punches at all. “The ads are stupid. She’s part of this ‘you can’t win, so win’ campaign, and it’s so dumb.” They went on to talk about the Super Bowl commercial and how it made no sense. “It’s for women and they’re spewing all the stuff that people believe. They can’t fill stadiums? So fill them.” 

The campaign in question is the ‘So Win’ campaign that became popular through the Super Bowl. Nike CEO Elliot Hill approved a $16M advertisement during the Super Bowl, featuring top athletes like Sha’Carri Richardson, A’ja Wilson, and of course, Caitlin Clark. It focused on women athletes and their success despite adversity. However, the entire campaign just didn’t sit right with some people. Even the newest ad in the campaign, featuring the Indiana Fever star, was subject to criticism.

The national reporters ripped apart the newest part of the $16M campaign. It was posted on CC’s IG with the caption, “It’s not where you’re from. It’s where you shoot from.” The message was nice enough, and so was the ad. Even Gray and his co-host agreed. However, there were a couple glaring problems with it. The biggest problem, however, was that it wasn’t Caitlin Clark doing the voiceover.

There was so much potential in that ad, as the visual aspect hit just about every beat. But without CC’s own voice, it lost a bit of the personal touch that it needed. Nike’s ad campaign, even through criticism, has been highly successful. The WNBA is rising in popularity, and women sports are on the up. However, the analysts pointed out some major issues with the league.

WNBA’s best year is a massive loss!

The Indiana Fever has been the hub for a massive shift in WNBA fortunes. Caitlin Clark, alongside the rest of her draft class, has brought a completely new set of eyeballs to the sport. Her popularity in the NCAA was just a glimpse of what was to come, as viewership and ticket sales have skyrocketed over the last year!

However, all is not perfect for the W. Even with all of the increased footfall in WNBA stadiums, the league is still not doing as well as hoped. Through the league’s best season, they still aren’t able to turn a profit.

Pat Gray and his co-host mentioned the same on their podcast. “So many eyeballs have never been to the WNBA before, and even so, the WNBA lost between $40 and 50 M last year. Their best year of all time was a $40-50M loss!” But it’s not all bad for the league.

Players are beginning to get the kind of compensation that they deserve. There’s been a rise in the amount of brand deals and sponsorships offered to WNBA players, and salaries are expected to rise tremendously over the coming years.

With the meteoric growth in women’s sports over the last couple of years, there is a lot to come and a lot that is better already. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes time to turn heavy losses into profit, but the W is at least headed in the right direction.