Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and… Caitlin Clark? Iowa hoops star becomes the first NCAA athlete and only woman to ink endorsement deal with State Farm

Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Paul… Caitlin Clark?

The Iowa basketball star became the first college athlete and only woman to sign an endorsement deal with State Farm Insurance. The NIL deal was announced Tuesday, but precise dollar figures were not revealed. Previously, the insurance giant has tapped NFL stars like Rodgers, Mahomes and Kelce, as well as the NBA’s Paul, to endorse its line of services.

Clark gained national prominence during the 2022 NCAA women’s basketball tournament by propelling the Hawkeyes to the title game, where they ultimately fell to Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers. Clark and Reese both sparked controversy during the tournament by borrowing wrestler John Cena’s “you can’t see me” celebration, which many considered unsportsmanlike.

Clark, 21, finished the season averaging a remarkable 27.8 points, 8.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, while making an impressive 38.9 percent of his attempts at 3 points.

The deal is the latest sign of the growing popularity of women’s basketball, which is seeing record viewership at both the collegiate and professional levels.

Caitlin Clark is pictured alongside Kevin Miles, known as Jake from State Farm in the commercials

Caitlin Clark reacts after Iowa upset defending champion South Carolina Gamecocks

LSU’s Angel Reese gestures to her ring finger as Iowa’s Caitlin Clark walks by

The WNBA once again posted strong statistics as the league had its most-watched regular season in 21 years and its highest average attendance since 2018.

Viewership was up 21% from last year across all national television partners and the league average attendance of 6,615 fans was the highest in the WNBA since the 2018 season. A schedule expanded to 40 games this season allowed the league to reach its highest total attendance in 13 years (1,587,488).

But that was nothing compared to Clark’s battle with Reese in early April.

LSU’s 102-85 victory over Iowa in the title game was the most-watched NCAA women’s basketball game on record, with 9.9 million viewers on ABC and ESPN2 according to national figures Nielsen rapids.

The total audience represents a 103% jump from 2022, when South Carolina beat UConn and averaged 4.85 million on ESPN and ESPN2. The 2023 audience peaked at one point at 12.6 million.

LSU’s first national title in women’s basketball was the first on television since UConn’s victory over Tennessee in 1995. That game averaged 7.4 million people on CBS.