Caitlin Clark Breaks NCAA Record With Assists From Peacock and State Farm

Caitlin Clark wore an Iowa jersey while breaking the NCAA women’s basketball scoring record, but State Farm, Nike, Peacock and other brands and networks were also on her team leading up to her big moment. On Thursday night, No. 22 shattered Kelsey Plum’s all-time record of 3,527 career points set in 2017, scoring 49 points against Michigan—breaking her own career-high of 46 and setting the Iowa single game record. She only needed eight points to break the record, a feat she achieved in just two minutes and 12 seconds, with a signature three-pointer from the logo. Brands and networks alike have been watching Clark chase the record all season, and everywhere the star goes, record crowds turn out and new TV viewership records are set. Now they're watching viewer counts climb and the company logos along for Clark's biggest moments. https://twitter.com/IowaWBB/status/1758297782119469082 The Caitlin Clark Effect You’ve heard of the Taylor Swift Effect, but now it’s time you know about the Caitlin Clark Effect. The Iowa team has sold out or broken attendance records at 30 of 32 away games this season. Before the 2023-24 season officially started, Iowa broke the women’s basketball all-time attendance record for a single game with 55,646 people in Kinnick Stadium, home of Iowa’s football team, for an exhibition game against DePaul. And the Jan. 21 game against Ohio State on NBC drew nearly 2 million viewers—the most watched regular-season women’s basketball game since 2010. Thursday night’s game could only be streamed on Peacock, serving as part of NBCUniversal’s larger Big 10 programming strategy, which includes more than 30 men’s basketball games and 20 to 25 women’s games on the streaming service. Those numbers will get bigger next year when Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC join the conference. Did NBCUniversal ever consider shifting the game from Peacock onto the broadcast network? “Never. Never even entered into the discussion,” Jon Miller, NBC Sports president of acquisitions and partnerships, told ADWEEK. “This was always intended to be a Peacock game.” Fox, the other Big 10 rights holder, is seeing women’s college basketball up 37% from last year (920,000 viewers vs. 671,000 a year ago). Last Sunday’s Iowa game against Nebraska pulled in 1.772 million viewers—the most-watched women’s college basketball game in Fox Sports history. "We’ve focused on building our collegiate sports folio by scheduling big games in traditionally overlooked or underutilized windows," said Mike Mulvihill, president of insights and analytics for Fox Corporation. "For women’s basketball specifically, we’ve absolutely embraced and celebrated the groundswell in popularity and showcased the matchups and athletes that viewers want to see on Saturday night in primetime on Fox." https://twitter.com/FOXSportsPR/status/1757444407589224779 Big name brands Throughout her collegiate career, Clark has entered name, image and likeness (NIL) rights deals with Nike, Topps, Goldman Sachs, H&R Block, Bose and Hy-Vee, among other brands. But State Farm—the presenting sponsor of Big 10 women’s basketball on Peacock, including Clark’s games—signed Clark to its first-ever NIL deal. That placed her on an athlete roster next to Super Bowl champions Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and in commercials with the NBA player Jimmy Butler and Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller. For her record-breaking moment at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, the insurer partnered with Peacock on the Caitlin Cast by State Farm that focuses 40% on Clark’s performance and 60% on the rest of the game. State Farm sponsored an in-game points tracker on Fox Sports and Big 10 Network as it monitors Clark’s progress and integrated Fox/Big 10 personality Jenny Taft into Clark’s ads. “We're excited about her journey, and we're gonna be right there with her, but it's not just about her best in class [performance] on the court,” Kristyn Cook, CMO of State Farm, told ADWEEK. “She exhibits our good neighbor values—just listen to any interview that she has [given]—so we couldn't be more proud.” The tracker was part of the Peacock broadcast, but State Farm also flashed a graphic on the lower third of the broadcast screen when she broke the record, and aired a branded bumper focusing on Clark as the new record holder. The brand also had celebratory posts on social media, but doesn’t plan to stop there—as Clark prepares for Iowa’s Senior Day, the Big 10 tournament, March Madness and, potentially, the WNBA draft. Nike also got in on the action, posting a now-viral image last night of Clark celebrating, with the tagline “You break it, you own it.” Immediately following the conclusion of the game, Clark’s teammates and coaches all donned Nike-branded No. 22 shirts with the same tagline. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nike (@nike) In December, Gatorade signed Clark to its own NIL deal and dropped an inspirational welcome video inviting other women in sports to follow her lead. Gatorade donated $22,000 to her Caitlin Clark Foundation to empower young athletes, but didn’t make specific plans around her record-breaking moment in Iowa. “It’s incredible to see Caitlin reach this massive milestone, and we’re proud to help fuel her journey as she continues to reach new heights,” said Jeff Kearney, global head of sports marketing at Gatorade. “Beyond the stat line, this milestone is indicative of the broader impact she continues to make on the game of basketball and in women’s sports, and her change-agent mentality is what makes her a perfect teammate on our Gatorade Roster. We’re energized to continue cheering her on and fueling her into the future.” It’s just the beginning for Clark, as well as her TV and brand partners, as the star will take her endorsement deals with her when she enters the WNBA. Should she declare for the draft this year, Clark is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick, heading to the Indiana Fever. “One of the unique things about Caitlin Clark, who is an exceptional star—we know stars attract audiences and fans and sponsors. Whether you’re Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods or Steph Curry, I would put Caitlin Clark in that conversation,” said NBC's Miller. “She has that kind of power. Not just in women’s basketball, but across sports in general.”