INDIANAPOLIS — WNBA All-Star weekend has been a vibe. Fans have converged on the hoops capital of the United States and immersed themselves in the W and it’s growing popularity.
‘It’s so cool,’ Fever guard Lexie Hull, who participated in the 3-point contest on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, told USA TODAY Studio IX. ‘I know our team, our front office, everyone with the Fever, has been working really hard to put together a really awesome weekend.
‘And to have a lot of the W players and the fans filling the stadium, every restaurant and every hotel, it’s awesome.’
Many of those players, along with team owners, general managers and other sports business VIPs celebrated all things WNBA, fashion and the culture of women’s sports Friday night at an All-Star party hosted by Wasserman’s The Collective in partnership with Ally Financial and USA TODAY Studio IX.
Hull walked the red carpet into The Bemberg, a members-only club where the event was held, wearing a soft yellow dress from Meshki. New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart also attended, along with Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings — dressed head to toe in Coach — the Seattle Storm’s Gabby Williams, Notre Dame phenom Hannah Hidalgo and Olympic volleyball medalist Jordan Thompson.
Thompson said it is ‘amazing’ to watch the growth of women’s sports. She hopes that volleyball can capitalize.
‘Especially in the WNBA, it’s just starting to skyrocket,’ said Thompson, who will begin play in the Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball Championship this fall. ‘It’s kind of exciting, because, as a volleyball player, it’s a vision of where we could be one day, and hopefully sooner rather than later.’
The growth in women’s sports has happened for many reasons including the talent, personality and style of the women playing. But they have experienced significant buy-in from companies who understand the power of collaboration with leagues like the WNBA and NWSL. Ally Bank was an early sponsor of women’s sports, helping get the NWSL championship moved to primetime on CBS.
‘For us, it made a lot of sense to enter the women’s (sports) space in a big way,’ Stephanie Marciano, Ally’s head of sports and entertainment marketing, said. ‘We felt there was a lot of impact we could make, specifically on the media side. Because there’s a number of data metrics that prove that there was a huge visibility and coverage gap in women’s sports.’
Ally divides it’s advertising dollars 50/50 between men’s and women’s sports media. Wasserman believes it’s a blueprint many other companies will follow as the popularity of women’s leagues continues to grow and sports like women’s volleyball and soccer take off. Another one starting to make some noise? Girls flag football, which is being added as a sport in high schools across the county.’When you see billionaires coming in, multiples of them, to invest in teams, not only in the W, but across other women’s sports,’ Thayer Lavielle, The Collective’s managing director said, ‘they have had proven success at making a lot of money. People are seeing the return in the value.’
Lavielle said the women’s sports space is a community where people work collaboratively, which is unique. Her advice to brands that want to support ‘this rocket ship’ is simple.
‘Come in, the water’s warm. Do it. Invest now,’ Lavielle said ‘Everything will continue to go up.’
