{"id":23310,"date":"2026-05-10T06:04:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T06:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=23310"},"modified":"2026-05-10T06:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T06:05:00","slug":"how-the-wnba-brought-on-blue-chip-sponsors-amid-cba-negotiation-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=23310","title":{"rendered":"How the WNBA brought on blue-chip sponsors amid CBA negotiation uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body-content\">\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">The WNBA\u2019s 28th season in 2024 was a break-out one, marking the pro debut of several bona fide superstars as fans and sponsors rushed the league.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">The 29th season in 2025, though, was even bigger. There was more record-breaking viewership and further sponsorship changes, with brands signing bigger deals with longer timelines. All in, there was about a 40% YoY increase in sponsorship revenue, according to WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">She expects that trend to continue this year, as the league welcomes blue-chip brands like Procter &amp; Gamble, Mars, and Amazon Web Services in its 30th season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">\u201cWe have moved from this idea of potential to proof,\u201d Edison told Marketing Brew. \u201cThey\u2019ve seen the impact of partnering with the WNBA for all of these other businesses, and they don\u2019t want to miss out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">While surging fandom and sponsorship case studies have helped attract new brands to the W, this offseason had \u201ca little bit of turbulence,\u201d as Edison put it, as CBA negotiations took longer than expected and sparked moments of tension between players and league leadership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">With a seven-year deal now ratified, the season officially tips off today\u2014bringing with it several landmark sponsorships.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 eKiBjk\">New players<\/h2>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">WNBA fans are likely to clock a few new heavyweight sponsors around the court this season. They include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>P&amp;G, which announced a \u201cmultiyear, multi-brand partnership\u201d last month, building off of portfolio company Mielle\u2019s sponsorship dating back to 2023.<\/li>\n<li>Mars Snacking\u2019s M&amp;M\u2019s brand as the \u201cofficial chocolate partner\u201d of the W.<\/li>\n<li>And Skechers, which announced a multiyear deal earlier this week under an agreement that will see players rep the footwear brand on the court, Edison said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">\u201cWhen we first started this thing, you rarely saw WNBA talent in media campaigns,\u201d she said. \u201cNow, I think 85% to 95% of the brands utilize WNBA talent in their storytelling, and I think storytelling is the biggest difference here. The game on the court is the strongest that it\u2019s ever been, and we know these athletes have very full lives off the court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">Look no further than the Met Gala Monday night, where WNBA players including A\u2019ja Wilson, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers graced the carpet. Meanwhile, brands like State Farm, which rolled out a new basketball campaign starring Caitlin Clark today, are capitalizing on that level of household-name fame.<\/p>\n<div class=\"style__InlineSubscribeWrapper-sc-9b30af34-1 xBGLJ inline-subscribe\">\n<div id=\"inline-subscribe\" class=\"style__RoundedContainer-sc-bac6188c-0 jnRTsW\">\n<h5 class=\"inline-subscribe\">Get marketing news you&#8217;ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n<p class=\"inline-subscribe\">Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">The kinds of brands partnering up with the W isn\u2019t the only noticeable shift this season. Historically, many major WNBA sponsors had partnered with the NBA as well, but as popularity for women\u2019s basketball has grown, it\u2019s common for deals to just be for the W. In 2022, when Edison started at the league, there was one WNBA-only sponsor. Now, there are 11, including P&amp;G, Mars, and Skechers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">Additionally, the W is growing its Changemakers program, a sponsorship tier made up of brands that pledge to support the league beyond financial commitments. On Thursday, Amazon Web Services became the seventh Changemaker, joining brands like Ally, CarMax, and Deloitte.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 eKiBjk\">Courting<\/h2>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">The nature of partnership conversations and deal structures have changed as well, according to Edison. With the league in a phase of \u201chypergrowth,\u201d she said, general education conversations with potential sponsors are still happening, but they\u2019re more centered on ensuring brand alignment rather than explaining how the league operates. At this point in the W\u2019s evolution, Edison said she\u2019s looking for brands that can help support the \u201centire ecosystem,\u201d which includes fans and players.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">\u201cWe are now thinking about partnerships, not just as an asset and a rate card, but really [for] co-creating platforms that serve to tell player stories, increase fan engagement, and are grounded in authenticity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">Naturally, CBA negotiations came up in the course of those brand conversations this offseason. Edison said her team approached those discussions by highlighting the fact that brand and media partners help fund player compensation, while assuring them the CBA deal would get done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">\u201cIt was a lot of hand-holding, and a lot of transparency,\u201d but ultimately helped to build more trust between the league and its sponsors, Edison said. While her team has done some heavy lifting to get major deals signed ahead of this season, the W\u2019s place in pop culture has also contributed to the effort, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">Being in the spotlight isn\u2019t always positive, but \u201cbeing part of the zeitgeist, being part of those water-cooler conversations\u201d has meant that the W is \u201cno longer a brand that is overlooked,\u201d Edison told us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__StyledText-sc-a55d003e-8 ggAaRe\">\u201cThat sometimes means you\u2019re getting tons of negative feedback, but it means you\u2019ve made it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketingbrew.com\/stories\/wnba-season-30-sponsors-cba?utm_source=&#038;utm_medium=syndication&#038;utm_campaign=feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The WNBA\u2019s 28th season in 2024 was a break-out one, marking the pro debut of several bona fide superstars as fans and sponsors rushed the league. The 29th season in 2025, though, was even bigger. There was more record-breaking viewership and further sponsorship changes, with brands signing bigger deals with longer timelines. All in, there [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-marketing"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How the WNBA brought on blue-chip sponsors amid CBA negotiation uncertainty | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The WNBA\u2019s 28th season in 2024 was a break-out one, marking the pro debut of several bona fide superstars as fans and sponsors rushed the league.The 29th\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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