At WNBA All-Star Weekend, brands look to court growing fanbases

The (WNBA) stars are aligning this weekend in Indianapolis for WNBA All-Star Weekend, and you can bet many of the league’s sponsors will be there, too.

In addition to the action at the Indiana Fever’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which includes the 3-Point Contest and the Skills Challenge on Friday followed by the All-Star Game on Saturday, the roster of off-court events is deeper than ever, with a record 25 partners and licensees of the W lined up to be involved throughout the weekend, according to the league.

This weekend, some brands are working to leave an impression as they court the WNBA’s growing fandom with offers like access to athletes and exclusive merchandise.

Liven things up: A growing pillar of WNBA All-Star Weekend is WNBA Live, the fan festival focused on fashion, music, and culture that’s headed into its fourth year. Some of the league’s biggest sponsors are hosting events at WNBA Live this year, including several Changemakers, brands committed to helping elevate the league beyond sponsorship dollars.

• AT&T, the presenting sponsor of WNBA All-Star and the All-Star Game, is offering nail art and setting up a “4-point” game for fans to play.
• There will also be an AT&T-branded “4-point” shot element in the All-Star Game.
• Ally Financial is bringing arcade-themed experiences, complete with custom debit cards featuring its WNBA athlete partners; visitors can shoot hoops onsite and accumulate points to redeem for merch.
• Google is creating an interactive experience that lets fans take a quiz matching them with a WNBA team and take media-day-style photos.
• Google also put together a “Hall of Fits,” a collection of outfits from Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson and Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum.

Fan focus: Marketers are leaning into fans’ relationships with athletes as one way to make their mark on All-Star Weekend.

• State Farm is bringing Fever guard Caitlin Clark and USC guard JuJu Watkins for events including Q&As, autograph sessions, and photo ops.
• All-Star Game jersey-patch sponsor Ally is bringing Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, and Fever guard Sydney Colson to do meet and greets.
• AT&T has Wilson and Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu lined up for meet and greets and photo ops.

Wilson and Ionescu’s personal brands are “going to be very much in our experience,” Sabina Ahmed, assistant VP of sponsorships and experiential at AT&T, told Marketing Brew, especially considering both athletes are powerhouses in fashion and have their own signature Nike shoe lines.

“The fandom around the WNBA is meant to be inspirational in nature—inspiring the next generation of young girls so that they can see themselves in the sport,” Ahmed said. “We want to make sure that we create an experience that’s inspirational for a lot of the fans.”

Merch mania: There will be no shortage of branded merch at All-Star Weekend, helping to fill a gap in the women’s sports ecosystem.

Shoe charms, laces, towels, and tote bags are among the items people can win by playing Ally’s arcade games over the weekend, according to Stephanie Marciano, head of sports and entertainment marketing. The brand also partnered with Jocelyn Hu, a popular designer in the basketball space, to create 50 bucket hats to sell on its website, Marciano said.

AT&T is in on the shoe-charm trend, too, offering them as a “welcome gift” to fans that opt into text alerts from its “All-Star Access” club, including info about merch drops.

Not all the perks are tangible. Ally is giving 1,500 fans free subscriptions to WNBA League Pass, the league’s streaming service, for the rest of the season, and American Express is using its tried-and-true approach of offering cardmembers benefits like priority entry (in this case, to the All-Star Game and the Friday night events).

Mic’d up: Podcasts provide another avenue for brands to get involved. Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are doing a live taping of their podcast A Touch More, presented by Delta and Icy Hot, and Bird is also recording an episode of Bird’s Eye View, presented by Google Pixel and Nike. Colson and former Seattle Storm forward Theresa Plaisance are filming their series, The Syd + TP Show, on the ground in Indy, with Ally presenting, according to Marciano.

And 1: Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league founded by WNBA stars Stewart and Napheesa Collier, will also be on the ground with an Unrivaled HQ, another opportunity for brands to connect with fans.

Sephora, which has increasingly leaned into basketball, is the presenting partner of that experience, and brands including Under Armour and Ally are also involved. Under Armour is partnering with lifestyle brand Round21 and artists Domo Wells and Meghan Wallace on a limited-edition collection of shirts and sweatshirts, and will also have a presence at WNBA Live, touting its new sneakers with Plum. Ally is creating an “immersive locker room experience” at the HQ.

The competition for attention is stiff, but Marciano said it’s good for the league and its partners.

“A rising tide lifts all boats,” she said. “I want the fans to enjoy every brand, and experience every brand, and I feel like we have found some ways to stand out.”