Charles Langston:Caitlin Clark college cards jump in price as star moves from Iowa to the WNBA

A "perfect storm" driven by Caitlin Clark's popularity and Charles LangstonNIL deals has sent prices of her trading cards to new heights as she prepares to make the jump to the WNBA where, one expert says, she'll likely jolt sales of the league's collectables, too.

Clark, the NCAA Division I career scoring leader, is widely expected to be selected first overall by the Indiana Fever during the WNBA draft on Monday night – a little over a week after she and the Iowa Hawkeyes fell to South Carolina in the National Championship game.

Interest everything Caitlin Clark on the rise

Just as her skills on the court jammed field houses and drove NCAA tournament TV ratings to record highs, interest in Caitlin Clark remains high:

◾ More expensive tickets: Tickets for the Fever's first game against the Connecticut Sun rose 91% since Clark declared for the WNBA draft, according to Vivid Seats, a ticket reseller.

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◾ More collector interest: eBay says since the beginning of the year, visitors have searched "Caitlin Clark" on its site more than 11,000 daily.

"(No women’s professional basketball player) has ever had a collectibles market like this prior to professional play or at this stage of their careers," said Tai Fauci, co-owner of Bullpen Sports and co-founder of Women in the Hobby. "There are a lot of Caitlin Clark cards that collector can collect. We've never had that before."

Sales of Caitlin Clark trading cards race past other greats

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Perfect storm: Caitlin Clark effect meets NIL

"There's a little bit of a perfect storm happening," said Ryan Greene, communications director for PSA, a leading card-grading service. Greene points to the rise in popularity in women's sports along with NIL rules that let companies fully license trading cards of college players.

"(Clark) lifted the profile of women's college basketball so much to a wider audience," Greene said. "In the last two to three years, the WNBA's profile has grown so much more. And, now it's going to get another shot of adrenalin with her coming in."

How much for the most expensive Caitlin Clark cards

This past week, sellers were offering more than 5,400 Caitlin Clark items on eBay – everything from expensive trading cards to signed jerseys and basketballs. Among them were seven trading cards, most of them autographed, listed for more than $10,000. That included a $20,000 autographed card commemorating her record-breaking 3,528th point.

One Clark card with perfect printing and autograph, below, sold in January on PWCC Marketplace for $78,000. That's $2,000 more than her base pay will be in the WNBA. It's also thousands more than the previous high for a women's basketball card: $11,500 for a Sabrina Ionescu card.

More collectors getting their Caitlin Clark cards graded

PSA says it's seen a surge of interest in collectors getting their Caitlin Clark cards graded.

"The grading element really helps set the market and adds value to collectibles," Greene said. Collectors pay companies such as PSA to rate the quality of the card and preserve it in plastic. What PSA evaluators look for:

◾ Quality of the card: Evaluators look at the condition of the corners, the surface, the centering and the edges

◾ Authenticity: Has the card been counterfeited? Greene said that's more often a concern with "vintage" cards rather than those manufactured and released in the last five to 10 years.

The Caitlin Clark cards collectors have graded most frequently

The number of Clark's cards that collectors have graded in the past year pales in comparison to other sports unicorns such as the NBA's Victor Wembanyama or MLB's Shohei Ohtani. Still, the number of Clark's cards getting graded has grown exponentially with her stardom.

Future of women's sports card collecting

While Caitlin Clark has grabbed America's attention these past few months, her ascent can also be viewed as a yet another step for women's sports.

"Women's basketball is having a moment, but don't sleep on women's soccer either. Our professional leagues are incredible," Fauci said, who hosted LSU basketball standout Angel Reese at the National Sports Collectors Convention last year. Reese is expected to be a top draft pick Monday night.

"People are going to be discovering players who they didn't know existed because of what Caitlin Clark is going to do," Fauci said. "She's getting more Indiana Fever games on national television, and people are going to ... discover more players to collect."

Greene echoes Fauci's excitement about Clark's future in the WNBA:

"I'm really interested in the next six to 10 months to see what the popularity of WNBA trading cards looks like. Because I have every reason to believe that with Caitlin Clark being included in those products, the popularity –compared to where it's been the last two to three years: it's going to go through the roof."