Value-generating efforts by league partners have included Verizon’s “Save of the Match”GETTY IMAGES
The NWSL Challenge Cup heading into Sunday’s Chicago Red Stars-Houston Dash championship game has generated more than $1.1M for brand partners, over half of which went to Procter & Gamble’s Secret brand, according to data provided to SBJ by Hookit. Secret’s “No Sweat Play of the Game” campaign featured several players, including North Carolina Courage F Crystal Dunn and Sky Blue FC MF Carli Lloyd replicating the “Wipe it Down” viral video. Lloyd’s posts delivered value even though she opted out of playing in the tournament. The two combined to drive 84% of the overall $625,253 in value that was delivered to all the brands by NWSL players. Verizon’s “Save of the Match” and Budweiser’s “Woman of the Match” initiatives rounded out the top brands in terms of value generated by the NWSL, its teams and their players. The top jersey sponsors by value received were Progressive (Washington Spirit) and Orlando Health (Orlando Pride). Both of these brands saw value come from a combination of jersey exposure on posts as well as on field branding, either field boards or stadium signage. None of the host organizations -- the Utah Sports Commission, Sandy City, and Herriman City -- drove any value for the brands examined. Overall, 45% of the 185 entities tracked by Hookit for this study generated some sort of financial value for a brand partner.
