Source: NEW BALANCE AND THE WNBA ANNOUNCE MULTIYEAR PARTNERSHIP
Details: The deal features New Balance endorsed athlete Cameron Brink and will allow NB to utilize aspects of the WNBA in marketing.
As part of the deal, New Balance will create authentic broadcast, digital and retail content featuring New Balance athlete and WNBA rookie Cameron Brink. The partnership enables Cameron to continue empowering young athletes to fearlessly overcome obstacles and pursue their dreams, both in basketball and in life.
The partnership will establish New Balance as an official partner of the WNBA. Together, both brands will continue to push the boundaries of sport and transform the game through grassroots initiatives aimed at growing youth basketball and authentic community engagement.
This is an important step in becoming more visible in a league hitting impressive new viewership numbers. Being able to prominently display Brink in New Balance ads in her uniform helps to brand the league while also showing girls that New Balance is a player.
Since Nike owns the WNBA uniform the Swoosh, by default, is more visible. This doesn’t mean Nike is doing the work to promote the league. Quite the opposite. Nike is relying on their sponsorship and brand placement to carry the weight. There has been very little marketing content elevating the league by the Swoosh.
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Op-Ed: As an observation of women athletes while coaching, I’ve found girls tend to be less focused on sneakers and gear when it comes to sports. Women athletes dial in at a level young male athletes don’t. This happens for a variety of reasons, but one of the primary reasons is boy’s want to have what is perceived as the best (looking) sneakers and apparel when competing.
This is not to say women athletes don’t care about how they look. I’ve just found that girls focus on the training and performance without thinking so much about if they have Kobe, Jordans or the latest hyped basketball sneaker. Girls will actually wear the team shoes. Boys will fight to wear what they want to wear.
I find this to be the case due to the level of support provided to male athletes in comparison to girls. Shoe companies place an inordinate amount of funding into boys’ basketball travel teams and high school programs. Boy’s teams get free sneakers and gear. The items tend to be the coolest models. This creates pressure for coaches to place their teams in equally impressive gear and boys have to wear the “dopest” kicks.
Boys also look to trends while girls can make almost anything look dope. Give a girl hooper a pair of Two Wxys and a girl’s squad will accessorize with headbands and tees. Give a boys’ team a pair of Two Wxys and they will ask why they can’t wear Js.
Girls tend to be more team oriented and want to look and be cohesive. Boys will look at New Balance with a sideeye and want adidas AE1s. Girls want what feels good on foot and will help them perform. While these statements are generalizations, ask any coach and the commentary will be almost the same.
