One of the WNBA’s biggest sponsors is getting further into the game.
Google is extending its marquee partnership with the league through 2025 as the popularity of women’s basketball continues to grow exponentially. The announcement comes just ahead of Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game, in primetime for the first time.
The tech giant, one of the first WNBA Changemakers—a partnership and sponsorship program designed to help the league overhaul its business—has been a long-time sponsor of the league, but sees high value in furthering its investment in the WNBA.
“What’s unique about Google is they are so creative, so innovative, and committed to growing women’s sports that we continue to evolve the partnership,” Colie Edison, the WNBA’s svp and chief growth officer, told Adweek. “It’s not that we put our money in and walk away, it’s a continuous evolution of the partnership between two amazing brands in this space.”
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has been a long-time sponsor of the WNBA Finals through YouTube TV, but the overall deal with the league started with its search and consumer apps.
“As a brand, we showed up in the moment, but we weren’t invested in these longer-term partnerships and doing them as platforms,” Kate Johnson, Google’s director of global sports, media and entertainment marketing, told Adweek.
The WNBA became Google’s first partner under the new long-term approach, beginning with search and consumer apps. The company later added the NBA.
“It’s really important that happens more often … and that we can start with women’s sports,” Johnson said.
Pixel party
Though Google’s partnership may have begun with search, the extension will see the Pixel properties increasingly highlighted.
“[We’re] trying to find a throughline between the work that we’ve done in the NBA with Pixel into the WNBA,” said Johnson. “There’s something unique about the WNBA in particular that fits really well with how we’re looking to support users through Google products.”
For the WNBA, partnering with Pixel allows for further capturing of content, whether it’s getting viewpoints from players with marketing agreements or fans utilizing Pixel at the WNBA’s All-Star game.