Mercury Become First WNBA Team To Sign Jersey Sponsorship

The Phoenix Mercury are the "first WNBA franchise to sell advertising space on its team uniform as the league adopts an aggressive new marketing approach driven by the need for increased sponsorship revenue," according to Lombardo & Lefton of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Under the three-year deal with Arizona-based LifeLock, the Mercury's "primary logo on both the home and away jerseys and the team's shooting shirts will be replaced with LifeLock's corporate logo." The Mercury will place LifeLock's logo on both ends of the court at US Airways Center, and the company also will receive courtside and in-arena signage. In addition, the deal includes a league tie-in, with LifeLock "taking a national media buy on the WNBA's national broadcasts on ESPN." The WNBA's "digital assets are also included in the deal." Mercury President Rick Welts: "This is a big step for an American sports league to be taking." WNBA President Donna Orender said that she "expects other WNBA teams to sign jersey advertising deals in the future." Orender: "This relationship will likely spark others, but in terms of when, it remains to be seen." Welts declined to discuss the value of the deal, which also includes a "one-year complimentary service for all WNBA season-ticket holders to LifeLock's identity theft protection service." Industry sources valued the deal at about "seven figures annually" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/1 issue). Orender said that the LifeLock deal is a "'vote of confidence' for the value the WNBA provides corporate sponsors." Welts added, "It's by far the biggest deal with any sponsor, and the hope is some other dominoes will fall. There are some other teams close to reaching agreements. It's a game-changer for the league" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/1).

Davis Says WNBA Fans' Support Of Sponsors As One Reason For Deal With Mercury

GOING AFTER "FANATIC" SUPPORTERS: LifeLock Chair & CEO Todd Davis said that although the Mercury and the WNBA "did not have mass appeal, they had 'fanatical' followers who appreciated the role of sponsors in the league." Davis: "Mercury fans have a real affinity for the sport. They just go above and beyond to support it.” He added that recent findings from Javelin Strategy & Research gave LifeLock a "demographic rationale for the deal: women are 26[%] more likely than men to be identity theft victims." Orender said, "We're constantly looking at ways to showcase the value we bring to our partners. And when the Mercury and LifeLock connected, it rang bells." Mercury President & COO Jay Parry added, "We thought it was time we stepped outside the boundaries and bring additional value to our marketing partners." Welts asserted that he is "not worried about critics" of a jersey sponsorship. Welts: "I'm sure some unenlightened 50-year-old white male sports-talk radio host will think this is a sign of the apocalypse" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/1).

A SIGN OF WHAT'S TO COME? In Phoenix, Bob Young writes it was "only a matter of time before a professional sports league could no longer resist the temptation to open this lucrative new 'revenue stream.'" More WNBA teams "will follow suit, and perhaps that will ensure the long-term health of the league." Young: "If this is what it takes to keep the Mercury afloat and competitive in a tough economy, we'll try to be progressive." Young notes it is "ironic, though, that the Mercury made the deal with LifeLock, the company that promises to keep us safe from identity theft," because in a way, the company is "stealing a team's identity" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/1). An NBA spokesperson would not say if the league would permit jersey sponsorships, but the WALL STREET JOURNAL's Matthew Futterman notes that NBA Commissioner David Stern previously has said that the WNBA and NBA D-League are "testing labs for the headline operation." Futterman: "Consider the trial balloon launched" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/1).