- Ally Financial and the WNBA have announced a multiyear partnership that makes the digital-only bank the official banking partner of the league and a member of the WNBA Changemaker Collective, per a press release.
- Ally will integrate into the league’s media coverage and invest with its broadcast partners, which is predicted to help the corporate reach parity in its paid media spending on women’s and men’s sports earlier than expected.
- In addition, Ally signed an endorsement deal with Paige Bueckers, who’s widely expected to be chosen first in the WNBA draft Monday night. Bueckers joins brand partners and WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Sydney Colson in social content and a sweepstakes.
Ally’s multi-prong partnership with the WNBA demonstrates how marketers are investing in women’s sports to reach latest audiences and meet purpose-driven commitments inspired by diversity, equity and inclusion principles, despite a retreat from DEI in some areas due to pressure from the Trump administration.
“Partnering with the WNBA is greater than only a sponsorship; it’s a press release Ally has been intent on making for quite a while,” said Andrea Brimmer, chief marketing and PR officer at Ally, in a press release. “Deepening our reference to the league gives Ally incredible latest opportunities to grow our businesses as we work to elevate the WNBA fan experience together and shape this latest era of ladies’s sports.”
Ally joins the WNBA’s roster of Changemakers, which also includes AT&T, Carmax, Deloitte, Google and Nike. The collective is meant to give purpose-driven brands a way to empower women, girls and underrepresented groups through sport. The deal also helps the brand meet its own 50/50 Pledge — an initiative to reach parity across paid media spend in women’s and men’s sports — a yr ahead of schedule. Ally is now set to hit 50/50 media spend in 2026.
Timed to the partnership, Ally also added women’s basketball star and certain No. 1 draft pick Bueckers to its roster of ambassadors. The University of Connecticut star is featured in social content around Ally’s “That’s A ‘Savings’ Bucket!” sweepstakes.
Along with joining the WNBA, Bueckers will reportedly sign a three-year deal with the player-owned Unrivaled league, which made greater than $27 million in revenue during its first season and has seen partnerships with brands including Morgan Stanley.
As a part of its tie-up with the WNBA, Ally may even serve because the presenting partner of WNBA All-Star Voting and the league’s first “Rivals Week” in August, debut a fan activation at WNBA Live and be the brand patch partner on All-Star Game jerseys.
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