Rihanna's Multibillion-dollar Brand Invested In The Wnba — And It's Just The Start

Fenty’s business is nan latest betwixt a awesome marque and a women’s master sports team. Other deals see CoverGirl arsenic nan charismatic sponsor of nan Chicago Sky and Sephora’s finance successful nan WNBA’s newest description team, nan Golden State Valkyries. In 2020, Glossier became nan WNBA’s first beauty partner and remains a cardinal sponsor for nan convention today.

“I deliberation it’s beautiful cool now that some sides are benignant of gathering successful nan middle,” said Isabelle Harrison, a guardant for nan New York Liberty. “I yet recovered a cleanable abstraction for maine to correspond each of who I am, not conscionable being an athlete, not conscionable being a beauty junkie. So Fenty, pinch this business pinch nan Liberty, it’s genuinely brought some of my worlds together.”

Harrison said she’s noticed that her squad and convention mates are embracing nan caller trading opportunities. One illustration is Chicago Sky guardant Angel Reese, who signed pinch Mielle Organics, a Black-owned hairsbreadth attraction brand. She’s portion of a caller procreation of sports influencers who blend performance, characteristic and individual style.

Angel Reese of nan Chicago Sky shoots a free propulsion successful a crippled against nan Minnesota Lynx astatine Wintrust Arena successful Chicago connected July 14.Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images

Meanwhile, brands for illustration Essie and Pinterest are making their first sports sponsorships pinch nan WNBA — not nan men’s leagues.

“There’s thing typical astir nan characteristic of redefining what a sports sponsorship looks for illustration successful nan sanction of women, successful nan sanction of sports, successful nan sanction of culture,” said Clarke.

She recalled nan time nan players came successful for their caput shots and different media for nan season, and saw really excited they sewage erstwhile they saw nan Fenty constitution artists and products for nan shoot.

“There was a familiarity that made them consciousness typical and made them consciousness seen,” Clarke said.

The passageway infinitesimal has go a staple passim master sports — WNBA, NFL and NBA players person been utilizing their arrivals arsenic catwalks to showcase their style. Harrison counts getting fresh for her passageway infinitesimal arsenic portion of her crippled time prep.

She said women person reached retired to her not astir basketball, but astir her tegument attraction routine, and successful move they person go hoops fans.

“I’m not conscionable a hoops player. I’m a beauty girl, I’m a wellness girl, I’m a girl’s girl,” she said. “Partnerships for illustration this pinch Fenty, it conscionable shows that you tin put and you tin show that we clasp value, and we’re ever going to make return connected our value. We’ve shown that. We’ve proven that each year. So I dream astir different companies drawback up to what Fenty is doing, because it’s huge.”