Brands are warming up to the chance of becoming sponsors of the Women’s National Basketball Association.
During a press conference Saturday at the WNBA’s All-Star Game at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, league Commissioner Donna Orender said that five marketing partners had signed on for the current season, and that there are “probably a dozen or more in the works.”
Though the league, backed by the NBA, has not struggled to find sponsors, she said the additional interest by brands shows that the nine-year-old league is gaining credibility, she said.
And on the local level, the league’s nine teams are averaging more than 10 new sponsors this season. The teams in Houston, Minnesota, San Antonio, Seattle and Washington, DC, have more than doubled their sponsorship revenue from the 2004 season, Orender said.
“We are working on deepening our relationship with Madison Avenue,” Orender said. “I think many of the sponsor-related segments and businesses in general are recognizing the value of the WNBA fan. We are getting tremendous receptivity in terms of all the major (sponsorship) categories.”
First-year sponsor America Online, for example, recently boosted its activity. AOL had been webcasting select games to the WNBA.com Web site, and will do that for4 each of the remaining regular season games, at no charge to fans.
The league also held its All-Star Summer Jam at Mohegan Sun, allowing sponsors to sample and spread their brand messages before the game was played.
Both Coca-Cola and McDonald’s brought their fitness initiatives to the fan fest, while Nokia demonstrated its new camera phone.
McDonald’s is the co-sponsor of the WNBA’s Be Fit Tour, which is part of the league’s national initiative, “Be Smart— Fit— Yourself.” Their presence at the fan fest included basketball games, healthy eating trivia and tips, a massage station and promoted the importance of health, fitness and self-confidence to teen girls and women.
Coca-Cola debuted its LiveIt! Program, and gave out stepometers to all participants. LiveIt! is designed to help students build healthy lifestyles by encouraging physical activity as part of their daily lives and providing nutrition tips in schools. The program will travel to middle schools across the country in the fall.
Nokia took photos of fans in front of a basketball themed backdrop— occasion with WNBA players— the company’s new 6682 camera phone and printed them on site for fans.
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