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<\/p>\nAs WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison watched over hundreds of volunteers making period packs to be distributed around Indianapolis, the impact the Changemakers sponsors would leave on the local community was clear. <\/p>\n
For the six brands at the league\u2019s highest sponsorship level, investment in All-Star Weekend, on par with their investment in the league, went well beyond the league\u2019s annual Changemaker Day. It included large activations in WNBA Live, presenting sponsorship for everything from voting (by Ally) to the game itself (by AT&T) and partnering with Deloitte to convene industry leaders at the Unstoppable Women\u2019s Sports Business Summit.<\/p>\n
Far beyond a logo slap or asset play, the top tier of sponsorship in the league has come with an expectation that has shifted from league growth to community impact in the past five years. Along the way, the involvement of the brands at that level \u2014 which also include CarMax, Google and Nike \u2014 has served as an indicator of the value of investing in women\u2019s sports and a sort of model those involved hope can be replicable in other leagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to say that there were signs and signals about our growth. It\u2019s no longer signs and signals. It\u2019s actually happening,\u201d Edison said. \u201cIt\u2019s the fact that these brands are spending millions beyond their investments at the league to stand up activations because of the importance of deep fan engagement, understanding the value of our brand, of our fan, and then doing everything that they can to interact with them. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a complete shift in the way that we look at how partners can bring their brand to the WNBA fans. And I think it\u2019s actually set the precedent and has become the model for how brands can activate at tentpole events.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program launched in 2020 with the premise that the Changemakers would not only invest in the sponsorship, but bring their expertise to fuel its growth. At the time, it included AT&T, Deloitte and Nike, before Google joined a year later and U.S. Bank came on in 2022. <\/p>\n
In those early days, Edison hosted calls with team and league staff and brand representatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was basically giving them access to these major brands in sports,\u201d said Kate Johnson, director of partnerships, content and sports media at Google. \u201cThe W hadn\u2019t seen its massive spike yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach Changemaker has put their own imprint on it, like, \u2018Hey, here\u2019s what I need it to be now for me, for my company. Here are the things that I want to highlight that I want to make sure that I\u2019m getting front and center.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Google centered its Pixel phone, with its activation at this year\u2019s WNBA Live highlighting the features and ability to integrate Google search and technology. <\/p>\n
Since starting its sponsorship, it has seen a 280% growth in search trends around the league domestically and 230% growth internationally.<\/p>\n
AT&T focused on connectivity, giving each player in the league a new phone and a line of service. Deloitte worked with the league to develop its digital platform, with a new app launching in 2023 and now getting nearly 1 million monthly active users. <\/p>\n
CarMax joined in 2023, and Ally signed on earlier this year after the category opened up with U.S. Bank\u2019s departure. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cChangemaker, it\u2019s the W\u2019s way of holding Google accountable to, \u2018Hey, you\u2019re a brand that\u2019s come in to lift us up and to really help us scale and grow the W.\u2019 It\u2019s a two-way street,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cTo be a Changemaker brand, we\u2019d better be delivering change-making work.\u201d<\/p>\n
That work has gone beyond the program, with the league partnering with Voice In Sport since 2024 to help WNBA players provide mentorship to young girls. The program, which aims to keep them in sport at a critical turning point when many drop out, reached 50,000 in its first year and aims to match that in its second. <\/p>\n
The impact has come less directly in the league\u2019s sponsorship portfolio, with the buy-in from top brands serving as an indicator in the market of the soundness of the investment.<\/p>\n
The WNBA started the year with a record 45 sponsors, and more than 25 activated at WNBA Live during All-Star Weekend. <\/p>\n
Perhaps no brand has been more associated with investment with women\u2019s sports than Ally, which joined Changemakers in April. The company is on track to complete its 50-50 pledge on equal spending in men\u2019s and women\u2019s sports as early as this year.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Marciano, head of sports and entertainment marketing at Ally, said the brand\u2019s significant investment in the league has delivered a new fan base it can reach with minimal overlap with other properties, such as the NWSL.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe WNBA is a crown jewel,\u201d Marciano said. \u201cWe just wanted to make sure that we had a seat at the table and we could continue to help drive the league and industry forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Changemaker program isn\u2019t the right fit for every potential sponsor, Edison said she envisions it growing by one or two in the next five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always been the backbone of purpose-driven partnerships for the WNBA,\u201d Edison said. \u201dWhat shifted is this idea of checking the box (from) <\/b>I\u2019m doing it because it\u2019s the right thing to do to I\u2019m doing it because it\u2019s important for my organization, and it will have a positive financial impact on my organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the type of work that those involved at the brands see as replicable at other leagues. The investment might be different, but the collaborative approach and the buy-in from brand partners to boosting women\u2019s sports is transferable.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething like the Changemaker model should be at every league,\u201d said Marciano. \u201cEvery league out there could benefit from building a tier of sponsorship that has brands that are investing across men\u2019s and women\u2019s sports, that have advice and ways to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison watched over hundreds of volunteers making period packs to be distributed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":91417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[4281,62,67,132,8971,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-91416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-print","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-upfront","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114913990616649419","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}