This is a large understatement. There is more going on with her than "some good endorsements." The NCAA women's tournament exploded this year. The title game had higher viewership than the men's. Likely a variety of factors - the "rising tide" quote from the linked article, etc., but the Clark "it factor" is pretty undeniable. Angel Reese as another big draw. According to the article it was the most-watched basketball game since 2019. Full stop. Men/women/NBA/NCAA. This is driving millions upon millions in ad revenue. And that game wasn't a freaking "swimsuit contest." It was a battle.

I disagree in the totality of his statement: "A conventionally attractive athlete in 3rd is more marketable than a more winning athlete who isn't as attractive." as broad statement of fact. Certainly physical attractiveness is a very real factor in both female and male sports marketing. Arguably women more than men.

This depends on context, e.g., what "attractive" means to him. But I assume it's mean to refer to athletes who intentionally promote the "model" side of their brand. For women, people like Maria Sharapova. Your Dunne. Or men like Cristiano Ronaldo or David Beckham.

But as a lifelong fan of women's sports, I just don't see this from the anecdotal perspective. Women who are the best athletes get marketed just fine. Caitlin Clark is one. She doesn't appear to GAF about anything but winning. Katie Ledecky in swimming. Marianne Vos in cycling. Puck Pieterese in MTB/CX. Mia Hamm in soccer. Shiffrin and Diggins in alpine/nordic skiing. These are women who are well known and nearly without peer in their respective sports marketing efforts because they are/were the among the very best-known and best-compensated athletes. They don't appear to spend much time catering to the purely appearance-based type of marketing. For every Dunne/Sharapova you might bring up, bet I could rattle of 20 iconic names of women who aren't/weren't models.

Now maybe @mathematics puts those in the "attractive" category. I certainly consider them attractive. Maybe we all do. In that case we're all in agreement. But I assumed he was referring to more "model" style self-promotion more than just people who are "naturally" good-looking but don't exmphasize self-promotion

Sure, Livy Dunne may be a counter-anecdote (I'm not familiar with her). Once again, I'm pushing back against the notion that "model" type female athletes dominate as a whole over women who are better athletes. Just don't see that as in any way a general truth.

Also, for the record, I have zero issue with Dunne, Beckham, et al, doing what they do.