Caitlin Clark to have significant impact on WNBA's exposure, media rights expert says

Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Caitlin Clark ranks among the top athletes on On3 Sports' NIL valuation list, which assigns a dollar amount based on the player's name, image and likeness and roster value. 

Clark's NIL valuation is $3.1 million, according to On3. And though it's not a tracker of the NIL deals she's made in her college career, she may end up making less annually just playing in the WNBA with the potential to earn more through lucrative endorsement deals.

The NCAA's all-time leading scorer could have opted to stay with the Hawkeyes for another year; she had a fifth year of eligibility, but she's decided to go pro.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Iowa star Caitlin Clark (Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports)

Some may wonder why Clark could be throwing away all that NIL money for a lower salary as a pro. But that actually may not be the case.

Michael Schreck, the co-founder of the Collegiate Sports Management Group, has negotiated media rights deals between several leagues and plenty of sporting events from the NFL to the Masters.

An expert in the field and a self-proclaimed college hoops aficionado, Schreck says the leverage and impact Clark will have on putting women's basketball on the map is astronomical, so orgoing her NIL money really isn't a risk at all.

"She's transcending sports right now, and not just women's sports. The amount of leverage she's going to bring wherever she goes. …" Schreck said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. "She's literally put women's basketball, women's sports, at another level. … Yes, she's making a killing in NIL right now, but the reality is that all those brands are going to sign her long