The Caitlin Clark marketing machine has expanded into enemy territory.
Nike unveiled its latest Clark billboard in Chicago this week at 157 W. Chicago Ave. The billboard is 3½ miles away from Wintrust Arena, home to the Chicago Sky and Clark’s rival, Angel Reese.
The placement of the billboard, taking up real estate in Reese’s city, sparked reaction from fans on social media due to the contentious history between the players.
Many of Clark’s fans have used the new billboard as an opportunity to mock Reese.
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Clark and Reese have been linked to one another since they first met in the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball championship. Reese mocked Clark at the end of that game when her LSU Tigers defeated Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes for the title, pointing to her finger in a taunting fashion to remind her who was getting a ring.
This sparked outrage from Clark’s fan base, including Bartstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who called Reese “a piece of s—” in a widely circulated X post after Reese’s gesture in the championship game.
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Caitlin Clark (22) of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese (5) of the Chicago Sky during a game June 1, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
They carried their rivalry into the pros this year. Their four matchups included a series of controversial flagrant fouls against Clark by Reese and other Sky players. Reese smacked Clark in the head with her arm while trying to block a shot in their first WNBA meeting June 1.
One of Reese’s teammates, Diamond DeShields, posted screenshots of hateful comments she got after knocking Clark to the floor in their last meeting of the season Aug. 30.
Clark and Reese have never acknowledged there is a feud between them. They’ve only made respectful comments about one another to the media. But the fans are a different story. The two groups have been notorious for attacking one another and the two players on social media since the 2023 NCAA championship game.
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Reese has said Clark’s fans have sent her death threats and made explicit AI images of her and sent them to her family.
“I think it’s really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are really just, they ride for her, and I respect that, respectfully. But sometimes it’s very disrespectful. I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it,” Reese said in the first episode of her podcast Sept. 5.
Now, Clark has notched an off-the-court win in the rivalry with her new billboard.
LSU’s Angel Reese reacts in front of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark during the second half of the NCAA national championship game April 2, 2023, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
In April 2024, Caitlin Clark signed an eight-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Nike. The deal includes a signature shoe and is the most lucrative shoe deal in women’s basketball history.
The new billboard is a continuation of Nike’s advertising campaign it launched with its first Super Bowl ad in 27 years Sunday.
The one-minute “So Win” spot is an all-female commercial that celebrates nine high-profile women athletes, including Clark, Jordan Chiles, Sha’Carri Richardson, JuJu Watkins and A’ja Wilson.
However, the campaign has also drawn criticism. Critics were quick to call out Nike for its company stance supporting transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
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