Dive Brief:
- Procter & Gamble is deepening its ties to the WNBA through a new multiyear sponsorship deal encompassing several of the CPG giant’s brands, according to a press release.
- The WNBA three years ago named P&G’s Mielle as its first Official Textured Hair Care Partner. Under the new agreement, other brands, including Secret, Olay, Downy and Tampax, will also activate around the women’s professional basketball league.
- Secret and Olay have already been collaborating with top WNBA athletes while Tampax’s sponsorship is the next slated to launch through a presence at the WNBA Draft on April 13. P&G and the WNBA’s tie-up will span marketing, retail and digital channels as more large marketers ramp up investment in women’s sports.
Dive Insight:
P&G is substantially expanding its presence in the WNBA as the league attracts record viewership and with sports sponsorship deal valuations soaring. Sports are broadly seen as one of the last bastions of U.S. consumer monoculture in an otherwise fragmented media landscape. Women’s sports, while rapidly growing in popularity, tend to draw lower rates, which have made them an appealing opportunity for investors and brand marketers. Financial terms of the P&G deal were not publicly disclosed.
“The WNBA is experiencing incredible growth, and this partnership is a powerful opportunity for our brands to show up in ways that celebrate the game and reach the WNBA’s highly engaged, passionate and diverse fanbase,” said Mindy Sherwood, P&G’s president of North America and chief sales officer, in a press statement. “There is a natural alignment between the elite performance of WNBA athletes and the superior performance P&G brands deliver, and together, we can elevate both.”
An early success in this arena, according to the announcement, was P&G’s initial WNBA sponsorship focused on Mielle, a brand targeted at consumers with textured hair that P&G acquired in 2023. The new pact ropes in much larger offerings in the CPG’s portfolio, including Olay, Tide and Downy. Secret, an antiperspirant brand, and skincare marketer Olay recently started working with Las Vegas Aces player A’ja Wilson and the Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers in an early example of the partnership in action. The multiyear tie-up with the athletes launched with exclusive scent variants inspired by Wilson and Bueckers.
On Monday, Tampax will make its debut as Official Period Care Sponsor of the WNBA by tapping into the league’s 2026 draft. The tampon maker is running a Queens Court interactive experience at the event that looks to empower athletes and attendees. Downy, Gillette Venus, Olay and Tide are also planning activations for the upcoming season, though details on what those will look like were not immediately available.
Ad spending on women’s sports was up 69% year over year in 2025 to $127 million, according to a recent report from media-investment agency WPP Media. The group’s research, which was conducted with EDO, Adverteyes and VideoAmp, also found that ads running around women’s sports generated 20% higher engagement than campaigns airing around non-sports broadcasts and cable programming.
Other brands have flocked to the WNBA, which has helped lead the surge of interest in women’s sports. Ally Financial last April became the league’s official banking partner and a member of a Changemaker Collective that also includes brands like Google, Nike and AT&T.
