Disney is in the process of introducing a new advertising framework designed to incentivize brands to spend more—and more intentionally—on women’s sports content.
The initiative, called Level Up, asks brands to commit a certain amount of spend to women’s sports content via espnW across all the platforms where it has a presence, like live events, linear, streaming, and social media, according to Deidra Maddock, Disney’s VP of sports brand solutions.
Her team is currently pitching advertisers on the framework, so none have officially signed on yet, but Maddock told Marketing Brew that initial reactions have been “really positive.”
Maddock is aiming for brands participating in Level Up to commit to a minimum spend of about $5 million each, she told us, although she later said that number isn’t definite and may vary “depending on the brand and the specifics of their deal.” Maddock said Disney is “pretty flexible” with brands on the structure of their buys, including the kinds of inventory they want to focus on.
“That’s why we call it a ‘framework,’ because it allows us the flexibility to work with multiple brands with different priorities and KPIs to find the right way in each of the areas on our platform to activate for their brand,” she said. “But what we are asking is that brands activate with intention in all of those places—that it’s not just cherry-picking one thing.”
Brands will be able to choose from activations including custom content and other ad units in live games, as well as involvement in live events like the annual espnW Summit. They’ll also have access to an addressable ad product dedicated only to women’s sports, Maddock said.
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Brands involved in initial talks include Ally Financial, a “major retailer,” several CPG brands, and agency holding companies, Maddock said. Andrea Brimmer, Ally’s CMO, confirmed that her company is “having some ongoing conversations” about Level Up after previously partnering with Disney and ESPN on other women’s sports initiatives.
Those that choose to get involved will also be able to leverage a few new ad offerings. One is something Maddock’s team has been calling a “partner pod,” which is a group of brands whose commercials will appear together during live sports breaks, according to Maddock. Before the ads roll, there will be some indication that “the brands that you’re about to see are helping ESPN level up women’s sports,” she said.
Another is a “what to watch” graphic—likely full screen—that will show up in ESPN SportsCenter and other studio content and is designed to drive awareness of upcoming women’s sports events, Maddock said. The graphic, still in development, will have real estate for Level Up partners to display their branding, and will ideally run prior to their commercials.
Lastly, Maddock’s team is developing a visual mark with the words “Level Up” that will be used to highlight brand involvement.
“The first rollout has been to answer the demand that we were already seeing, and that we wanted to respond to,” Maddock said. “It is a luxury position to be in when you know that there’s already interest out there, and you’re really just serving a need.”