DICK'S Sporting Goods announced on Wednesday that Caitlin Clark is its new brand partner — a multiyear, exclusive deal that covers DICK'S and Foot Locker at the same time. It is the first time either retailer has ever signed an athlete to a deal like this. Not a campaign booking, not a one-off appearance. A partner — and she is the first one either store has ever had.
The deal puts Clark across national and global campaigns for both stores, with custom promotion built around her signature footwear, apparel and product lines, plus retail and digital experiences, fan activations, appearances and community programming — all of it, in the company's words, designed to bring athletes closer to the game. The money and the exact length weren't disclosed. Multiyear is all the company would say.
For Clark, the full-circle part is real. "DICK'S Sporting Goods was always a stop before the start of any sports season when I was growing up," she said in the announcement. "Being the first ever brand partner for both them and Foot Locker is a really special full-circle moment. Both brands have deep roots in sport, basketball and sneaker culture, and have strong connections with fans in the U.S. and around the world."
The company didn't hide why it picked her to break its own rule. "We're excited to partner with Caitlin because we see the same opportunity to build on the energy around basketball and bring more people closer to the game through DICK'S and Foot Locker," said Ed Stack, the company's executive chairman. "Caitlin has an incredible ability to inspire, and as an athlete whose love of sports extends beyond basketball to golf, football, soccer, baseball, softball and more, she connects with fans across every part of our business. This partnership offers new ways to come together around a shared passion for sport, and the possibilities it creates."
Emily Silver, the company's chief marketing, eCommerce and athlete experience officer, put the other half plainly. "Caitlin has had an extraordinary impact on the game of basketball, not only through her talent and star power, but through the countless young girls and boys she has inspired to play the sports that they love, stay in the game and become fans of sport," Silver said. "That impact is deeply connected to what we believe at DICK'S: sports can build confidence, create opportunity and change lives. We're proud to partner with an athlete who is helping a new generation see what's possible."
The Foot Locker side of the house said its piece too. "Caitlin's influence reaches far beyond the court. She has captivated fans, inspired a new generation, and brought new energy to the game," said Brett O'Brien, Foot Locker's chief marketing officer. "Foot Locker has always been the home for basketball, connecting fans with the athletes, products, and moments that move the game forward across the globe. Our partnership with Caitlin builds on that commitment."
Understand what kind of company just changed its mind. DICK'S was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh; beyond its own nameplates it runs Golf Galaxy, Public Lands and the House of Sport concept stores, and as owner and operator of the Foot Locker business it also runs Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS and atmos for the global sneaker community across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. That is an empire of shelf space that has sold around athletes for three-quarters of a century without ever signing one. The first signature it ever put on a partnership is hers.
The timing isn't an accident, either. Clark's signature line is already the hottest shelf in the women's game. Nike's Caitlin 1 — her first signature silhouette, built around an 18-piece apparel collection, with "Shoot More Threes" and "It Was Never a Long Shot" written into the outsole — launched in China on September 24 and globally on October 1 at Nike.com and select retailers, priced at $140, and set sales records for Nike out of the gate. The campaigns behind this new partnership will push that same signature footwear and apparel inside the two retail empires that move it.
It caps a week that has been entirely hers. The three-time All-Star and 2024 Rookie of the Year released her debut children's book, "EXTRAordinary! A Little EXTRA to Reach Big Dreams," on Tuesday, and the partnership was celebrated at an event in New York on Tuesday night. A book one day, the first brand partnership in two companies' history the next — the off-court résumé is starting to read like the on-court one.
Retailers rent athletes all the time — a commercial here, a shoe wall there. A first-ever brand partner is a different sentence. Two stores that never put one athlete's name on the door just put hers on both of them.
