Liverpool Ladies, Cosmetics Company Avon Agree To Three-Year Shirt Deal

Women's Super League One side Liverpool Ladies announced a shirt sponsorship deal with cosmetics company Avon ahead of the WSL Spring Series. The three-year agreement is the first of its kind for Liverpool Ladies and will see Avon become the first independent front-of-shirt sponsor for the club. Avon will become the first female-focused brand to sponsor a premier ladies football team. Avon will also become the club's principal partner, as well as its official ladies beauty partner. Liverpool Ladies will wear a team kit featuring Avon's logo for the club's first game of the WSL Spring Series against Yeovil Town Ladies at Huish Park on Sunday (Liverpool). THE DRUM's Tony Connelly reported Avon's decision to partner exclusively with the women's team represents a "much-needed change within the relatively untapped realm of women's sports sponsorships." Applying a "catch-all template" to shirt deals where the male and female teams share the same sponsor is a "missed opportunity for brands looking to inspire and engage with female audiences." Energy company SSE appears to have recognized this opportunity, having invested in becoming the title sponsor of the FA Women's Cup. SSE Head of Sponsorship Colin Banks said that the move was "intended to apply the company's diversity and equality drive to its sports sponsorship portfolio" (THE DRUM, 4/19).