Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and other athletes who are raising the sponsorship bar in women's sports this year
Jeff Dean // Getty Images
Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and other athletes who are raising the sponsorship bar in women’s sports this year
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever poses for a photo while holding a basketball.
In a year where two of the most prominent leagues for women’s sports shattered attendance and viewership records, the brightest stars are cultivating burgeoning audiences on social media—audiences that those players can now leverage for lucrative sponsorship deals as early as their college years.
Collabstr analyzed data from SponsorUnited to rank the athletes in women’s sports whose social followings grew across all platforms the most over the last year. The report analyzes social media engagement on Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook from January 2023 through February 2024. Overall, the athletes tracked by SponsorUnited shared more branded posts on Instagram than any other social platform.
The boom in audiences and the easing of name, image, and likeness rules to allow college athletes to accept sponsorships have made collegiate and professional athletes a hot commodity for brands looking to get their names in front of their fans. Sponsorship deals for women in the top five professional sports leagues grew 10.5% on average over the year, according to SponsorUnited.
A couple of the athletes who have racked up the largest audience gains on social media have transitioned from collegiate to professional leagues this year, carrying more eyeballs into leagues that have historically lagged behind men’s leagues in public interest and sponsorship dollars.
Superstar rookies Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark both clocked some of the largest social media following gains over the year ahead of making their debuts in the Women’s National Basketball Association. The star power of players like these has the attention of those at the topmost rungs of the organization.
“I think fans are finally knowing where to find us,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a news conference prior to the July All-Star Game tipoff. “And I think this rookie class has brought a lot of attention and is lifting all of our games and all of our players.”
Reese and Clark are just a few of the young, talented athletes in women’s sports whose fan bases have been shifting from television to social media apps over the past year—and translating into high-paying sponsorship deals.
Nicholas Faulkner // Getty Images
10. Deja Kelly
North Carolina Tar Heels guard Deja Kelly brings the ball up court.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 450,000
League: NCAA Basketball
Age: 22
Deja Kelly played NCAA college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels for four seasons and transferred to Oregon this year. Her star power on the court has earned her sponsorships from Dunkin’ Donuts and Tommy Hilfiger, where she was the first college athlete to sign a deal with the clothing brand. In July, she was invited to the White House for a celebration of Black women in sports.
Harry Langer // Getty Images
9. Hailey Van Lith
Hailey van Lith of USA gestures during the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 500,000
League: NCAA Basketball
Age: 22
Hailey Van Lith now plays for the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, but previously played guard for the Louisiana State University Tigers women’s NCAA basketball team for three seasons. She has more than a million followers on Instagram and over 400,000 on TikTok, NIL deals worth nearly $700,000, and she has collaborated with Apple in social media posts this year.
Tracy Wilcox // Getty Images
8. Michelle Wie West
Michelle Wie West hits her tee shot during the Workday Golden Bear Pro-Am.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 600,000
League: Ladies Professional Golf Association
Age: 34
Now-retired professional golfer Michelle Wie West is no newcomer to the professional sports scene and the top-dollar deals that come with it. At age 10 she became the youngest person to earn a spot in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and was the youngest person to qualify for an LPGA event in 2003.
Wie West blogs about food under the cleverly named handle @whatdowieeat. She also has a designer line of jewelry with e-commerce jewelry brand Wove, which fans have spotted on Taylor Swift. Wie West has notched sponsorships from Nike and others over the years and is now involved in investing and entrepreneurship.
Sarah Stier // Getty Images
7. Kelley O’Hara
Kelley O’Hara of NJ/NY Gotham FC poses for a portrait, holding a soccer ball, during Media Day.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 750,000
League: National Women’s Soccer League
Age: 36
Kelley O’Hara plays defender for the U.S. National Women’s Soccer team and New York and New Jersey’s Gotham FC. The Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion announced her retirement in May of this year. Her final regular season with the NWSL will end in November. She was one of the first female athletes ever sponsored by athletic wear icon Under Armour.
Sarah Stier // Getty Images
6. Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Clark poses with Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall pick.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 900,000
League: WNBA
Age: 22
WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark may be one of the most talked-about athletes in the world. Her mere presence on the court has translated to broadcast viewership growth for both the NCAA and WNBA.
While at the University of Iowa, she had the fourth-largest NIL deal size among all eligible college athletes at $3.1 million and the most sponsorship deals of any other woman in NCAA basketball. Earlier this year, she inked an eight-year, $28 million deal with highly coveted sponsor Nike that far surpasses her annual salary of $76,000 from the Indiana Fever.
Alex Livesey // Getty Images
5. Jordyn Huitema
Jordyn Huitema of Team Canada reacts during the Women’s Quarterfinal match during the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 1,100,000
League: National Women’s Soccer League
Age: 23
Jordyn Huitema is another one of the several National Women’s Soccer League players to make the top 10 ranking for social following growth in the past year. Huitema plays forward for the Seattle Reign as well as the Canada Women’s National Soccer Team. Huitema has 1.4 million followers on Instagram and another 1.3 million on TikTok where she shared a brand sponsorship with New Balance earlier this year.
Phil Walter // Getty Images
4. Kerolin Nicoli
Kerolin Nicoli of Team Brazil controls the ball during the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 2,900,000
League: National Women’s Soccer League
Age: 24
Brazilian native Kerolin Nicoli plays forward in the National Women’s Soccer League for the North Carolina Courage. The athlete was a member of the Brazilian women’s team in the 2024 Paris Olympics. She was named league MVP in 2023.
Andy Lyons // Getty Images
3. Flau’jae Johnson
Flau’jae Johnson shoots during the second half of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 2,300,000
League: NCAA Basketball
Age: 20
Rapper and NCAA basketball star Flau’jae Johnson recently released an album inspired by her unique life as a performer and basketball player. The now-WNBA rookie went by the nickname “Bayou Barbie” in her previous role on the LSU women’s NCAA basketball team, but was unable to trademark it due to Mattel’s rights around the Barbie name.
The rising star’s business sense and growing personal brand are apparent in her estimated $1.2 million in sponsorship deals with companies like Powerade and Amazon.
Chris Parent // Getty Images
2. Olivia Dunne
Olivia Dunne of the LSU Tigers warms up at the Dickies Arenas for the NCAA Championship.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 2,400,000
League: NCAA Gymnastics
Age: 21
Olivia Dunne, better known as Livvy Dunne, is an American college gymnast who boasts a following of more than 13 million combined across Instagram and TikTok, where she shares brand-sponsored posts backed by athleisure brand Vuori and others. Dunne was thrust into virality last summer when TikTok user @h00pify shared a video about how she was “rizzed” up by Baby Gronk, which captured the world’s attention for weeks.
Now competing for Louisiana State University in NCAA gymnastics while pursuing a communications degree, she notched a Southeastern Conference championship win for the Tigers in the 2023-2024 season.
Sarah Stier // Getty Images
1. Angel Reese
Angel Reese poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected seventh overall pick.
Follower growth 2023-2024: 5,300,000
League: WNBA
Age: 22
She’s only in her first year with the WNBA, and Angel Reese already finds herself on 98.9% of fantasy WNBA rosters in ESPN’s fantasy women’s basketball. The 6’3″ power forward for the Chicago Sky made the WNBA All-Star team as a rookie. She’s racked up sponsorship deals with PlayStation, Wingstop, Coach, Amazon, and others.
Story editing by Carren Jao. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn. Photo selection by Clarese Moller.
This story originally appeared on Collabstr and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
