There’s no doubt that Caitlin Clark transformed the WNBA from the moment she stepped on the court as the No. 1 overall pick in 2024. Her explosive play and magnetic personality drew record crowds and shattered viewership numbers.
Even now, as a season-ending groin injury sidelines her for the rest of 2025, Clark’s off-court influence surges ahead. After Clark’s rookie card smashed women’s sports auction record, she’s at it again.
Caitlin Clark Surge In WNBA Collectible Market
This started as a hopeful year for the Iowa alum. However, hopes went down the drain when she got her groin injured and exited the league midway through. Though Fever played a genius move to sway away the daunting media pressure from her, the memorabilia market kept giving.
Earlier, she was averaging 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, and 5.0 rebounds across just 13 games this year before the injury struck in July. Yet her absence hasn’t dimmed her star power. This rookie sensation continues to break barriers while her impact reaches far beyond basketball stats.
@CaitlinClark22 ROIs have been eye-opening, but she’s not the only women’s sports star with a growing hobby footprint. As fans flocked to women’s sports in recent years, so have collectors — and industry experts say it’s not slowing down. https://t.co/rfMkquD0nO
— Dan Hajducky (@DanHajducky) September 29, 2025
Collectors flock to her cards, driving unprecedented growth in women’s sports memorabilia. PSA graded nearly three times more WNBA cards in early 2025 compared to last year, with Clark leading the charge as the second-most graded basketball player overall, behind only Michael Jordan.
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This sets up a closer look at the Caitlin Clark surge in the WNBA collectible market and the record-breaking sales that followed. Additionally, Ryan Hoge, PSA president, calls the growth staggering. He notes that no female athlete ever cracked the top 50 graded cards across all sports until Clark entered the top 10.
From January to September 2025, PSA processed about 159,000 WNBA cards, up from 58,000 the prior year. Surprisingly, Clark alone accounts for over 105,000 graded cards since the start of her rookie season.
Caitlin Clark Broke Rookie Card Record In July
While the WNBA season is winding down to its final fixture, Clark has still got a lot of reasons to look back on this year. In March 2025, her 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signatures Gold Vinyl 1/1 autograph rookie card shattered records at $366,000 through Goldin Auctions.
This topped Serena Williams’ previous high of $266,400, set in 2022. Collectors prized the sticker autograph and Prizm’s popularity, but it set the stage for bigger feats. By July, amid her groin woes and missed All-Star nod, another gem soared higher.
The boom came with her 2024 Panini WNBA Rookie Royalty Flawless patch autographed 1/1 card, inscribed “769 pts and counting” for her rookie scoring mark. It sold for $660,000 at Fanatics Collect’s July Premier auction, nearly doubling the prior record.