Gainbridge is ensuring its place in the women’s sports ecosystem.
The Indiana-based financial services and insurance company was among the brands to sponsor Caitlin Clark when she was still in college, and it holds the naming rights to the Indiana Fever’s home arena, Gainbridge Fieldhouse (where the NBA Finals–bound Pacers also play). But it’s also expanding its presence outside of basketball.
Gainbridge’s history with women’s sports dates back to 2017, when it struck up a partnership with the LPGA. It’s since stretched into tennis as the title sponsor of the Billie Jean King Cup, and in April, the brand secured a deal for the naming rights to the USL Super League, a pro women’s soccer league in the US.
Overall, about 40% of the company’s sponsorship spend is allocated to women’s sports, according to Mike Nichols, chief of sponsorship strategy and activation for Gainbridge parent company Group 1001.
“What we’re trying to do in the women’s sports space, as well as all of our sponsorships, is just raise the profile of the brand,” Nichols told Marketing Brew. “When you are asking somebody to invest their money with you, you want to give them the comfort of having seen the brand in major spaces.”
The company’s latest efforts in women’s sports go beyond brand KPIs, including its Gainbridge Assists grant program that aims to fund various girls’ and women’s sports organizations. The goal with all of the efforts is “to be authentic,” Nichols said, “at the risk of [using] the most overused word right now in marketing.”
Supercharge
One reason why Gainbridge teamed up with the Super League is because the organization provides an additional Division 1 league for women athletes to compete in, creating more professional sports opportunities overall, Nichols said.
As part of the partnership, Gainbridge is working with 1999 World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and Hall of Famer Briana Scurry to help support clinics for women and youth soccer players across the US. Scurry joins Billie Jean King, Clark, and 72-time LPGA Tour winner Annika Sörenstam on Gainbridge’s ambassador roster.
Though the Gainbridge name is front and center on properties like the Gainbridge Super League, the company often cedes space to its partners when it comes to its naming rights sponsorships. Its LPGA tournament is called “The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican,” and its tennis property is “The Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge.”
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Like with its soccer partnerships, Nichols said the decision is a goodwill move as much as it is a marketing one.
“If you were to take a marketing textbook and look at it, you’d probably say that’s crazy,” he said. “But again, that’s what we’re trying to do, is lead by example and be authentic in what we do. It’s not always necessarily [about] getting every last drop of marketing value from the sponsorships.”
The assist
Beyond the sharing-is-caring approach to some title sponsorships, Gainbridge is also giving out grants to women’s sports organizations through an initiative with its sister company Parity, a partnership platform for pro women athletes also owned by Group 1001.
The initiative started three years ago when three of Gainbridge’s major women’s sports properties—the Billie Jean King Cup, the Annika, and a Women in Motorsports North America summit—all occurred during the same week in November. The companies named the event “Parity Week” and celebrated the accomplishments of King, Sörenstam, and former IndyCar driver Lyn St. James, Parity CEO Leela Srinivasan said.
In 2024, Gainbridge and Parity brought the initiative back, but focused it on the future of women’s sports as opposed to honoring established figures. The companies teamed up with King’s Women’s Sports Foundation to award a total of $172,000 in grants to 22 orgs and athletes running programs for girls and women in sports, including a $22,000 donation to Clark’s foundation, a nod to her jersey number.
“It was so fun seeing the range of opportunities,” Srinivasan said. “It was fencing to flag football.”
This year, the companies are upping the total grant money available to $222,000, and are seeking grant requests through July 11. The program is no longer called Parity Week, though; Srinivasan said Parity proposed changing its name to “Gainbridge Assists Powered by Parity” to tie into Gainbridge’s broader messaging around providing financial assistance for customers (a point that other insurance companies have also weaved into sports marketing given the obvious metaphors).
Nichols said he sees Gainbridge Assists as a “legacy program” and hopes more brands get involved down the line. If that happens, Nichols said he would be open to rebranding the program again to have the Gainbridge brand take more of “a secondary role.”
For this year, at least, it’s all about the assist.
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