Flexing Their Marketing Muscle
The growth of the WNBA sees more players landing endorsements and becoming the face of major brands, but amid the rising airtime there’s still more work to do.
WNBA PLAYERS HAVE CRAVED airtime for years, and in 2023, brands came through like never before. Izzy Harrison, the Chicago Sky forward, did a quadruple take in Times Square this spring when she looked up and saw a pixel-bursting image of herself in a Glossier ad. “Full circle moment,” she said. Around the same time, she filmed a fashion-centric Google commercial alongside six other players.
“Growing up, you’d see commercials and be like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to do that,’” said Harrison, the daughter of former Philadelpha Eagles defensive end Dennis Harrison. “But you grow up, and you’re thinking, ‘Where’s everybody at?’ If you put me in a room, I’m gonna sell it. But I got to get there first. Shout out to Google for getting us there.”
The WNBA’s 27th season has been about a relaunched app, a 400% increase in digital downloads, a record 373 million video views, 20 straight 3-pointcontest makes by Sabrina Ionescu that had Steph Curry tweeting “RIDICULOUS” … and an ad campaign alongside Curry as well.
The CarMax commercial with Curry and Sue Bird (where Bird flashes her six WNBA and NCAA championship rings compared to his four) and the one with Candace Parker (where Parker keeps swatting Curry’s phone) was an NBA/WNBA collaboration. But other WNBA player endorsements with Deloitte, State Farm, Google, Michelob Ultra, Glossier, NBA2K, PlayStation, Under Armour, BodyArmor, Ruffles, Dick’s Sporting Goods, DoorDash, ESPN and Muscle Milk included women’s players only — marquee names such as Ionescu and lesser known such as Napheesa Collier.
Not that it’s been a 27-year-plan, but it’s been a plan nevertheless. In the W’s early years, players such as Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes appeared on an episode of “Martin,” running the comedian off the court in a pickup game. Around then, Nike launched its Air Swoopes sneaker, although gains were still modest. When Parker entered the league, she landed a “This is SportsCenter” spot, but hardly became ubiquitous.
“I can only imagine what Candace’s image would have been if social media was big like it is now,” Harrison said.
WNBA players needed income, and many spent offseasons pocketing hard cash in Europe. But the league’s alternative was creating a player marketing agreement program during CBA negotiations, circa 2020. The idea was to pay 10 selected players to be league advocates year-round as marketing representatives and influencers. It meant urging players such as Harrison to say no to the European league, a financial risk. But once brands started recruiting her, Harrison called the PMA “a blessing,” noting incremental rises in player exposure. In 2022, it was Breanna Stewart launching her Puma Stewie 2 basketball shoe, and in September 2023, Nike rolled out its Sabrina 1 sneaker.
“I would say this year for sure is the highest volume of connection between athlete and brand partners,” said Phil Cook, the WNBA’s chief marketing officer. “In the last three years, you see these partners who are investing with the league, investing with teams and now doubling down on that investment by leveraging the athletes.”
Those players are sudden media darlings. In State Farm’s commercial, Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings props her sequined sneakers up on a desk and rejects Mark Cuban’s business ideas — “Shark Tank” style. In Deloitte commercials, Diana Taurasi, Sydney Colson, Sylvia Fowles and Theresa Plaisance cheer on female business executives like they’re GOATs. In the Google ads, players such as Harrison and Ogunbowale inspire an insecure school-age girl with their style, or “drip.”
“We shot it in New York, got the VIP treatment,” Harrison said. “Had everything on set from hair, makeup, nails, clothes options. It’s crazy to think [male] athletes get that all the time — that’s just not a norm for us, if we’re being honest.
“We’re not there yet, but making progress. I’ll never, never take for granted being in a commercial.”