Two women’s pro leagues have each surpassed 1,000 sponsorship deals: report

Golf and tennis might have reputations for being more subdued than sports like soccer and basketball, but brand interest is anything but.

The LPGA and the WTA are the first two women’s leagues to ink more than 1,000 sponsorship deals, according to a report from SponsorUnited analyzing 9,500 women’s sports sponsorships from Jan. 1, 2022, to Feb. 1, 2024.

Athletes from those leagues are performing well individually, too, making a showing among the pro athletes with the most endorsement deals globally and in North America. On social media, branded posts from athletes in those leagues have some of the highest engagement rates compared to those in other sports.

The leagues: Women’s pro sports leagues saw around a 22% increase in the number of sponsorships in the past year, with more than 5,500 deals activated across the board, according to SponsorUnited.

• The LPGA led the way with 1,100 deals, a 25% YoY increase. In September, the LPGA’s chief sales and partnerships officer told Marketing Brew that much of the brand interest at the time was inbound.
• The WTA followed with 1,080 sponsorships, a 34% YoY increase.
• The WNBA saw sponsorships increase by 7%, clocking more than 500 deals for the first time.

The athletes: Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin had the most deals of any active North American athlete at 33, per SponsorUnited. She’s tied with NWSL goalkeeper Brittany Isenhour, who retired earlier this year.

Four of the 10 most-endorsed women athletes are still in college, including LSU basketball star Angel Reese, who had 26 endorsements. NCAA stars are only growing in social influence, according to the report, which found that six out of 10 of the women athletes with the most follower growth across platforms play at the college level.

Two of the most-endorsed women athletes came from the LPGA, and drag racer Leah Pruett came in at No. 5, representing the motorsports space. On a global level, eight out of 10 of the athletes on the most-endorsed list compete in the WTA, led by Naomi Osaka, who had 19 brand deals.

Perhaps golfers and tennis players are so dominant in terms of number of endorsements because their branded posts perform relatively well on social media, according to SponsorUnited. The average engagement rate on branded social posts for golfers was 4.1%, followed by 3.75% for athletes from European soccer leagues, and 3.4% each for tennis players and college athletes.

The brands: Gatorade led the pack in terms of brands inking deals with women’s leagues, with more than 50 deals, per SponsorUnited.

• When it comes to sponsorships of individual women athletes, however, Nike led with 45, per the report.
• Nike also had the highest number of in-venue assets with women’s pro leagues, including the WNBA, NWSL, and Spain’s Liga F.

Financial brands had the most sponsorships of women’s pro leagues and teams in North America, accounting for 193. Deloitte was “the most active” of those sponsors, according to the report. Food products, healthcare companies, alcoholic beverage, and non-alcoholic beverage brands rounded out the top five most-active categories.