Leveling up: How the NWSL is reintroducing itself this season with a new ad campaign

The National Women’s Soccer League kicked off its 2024 season looking pretty different than it did in 2023.

This year, the league introduced two expansion teams, one in Utah and one in the Bay Area. In the Midwest, the Kansas City Current opened the first venue built specifically for a women’s pro sports team. And the league is gearing up for “record-breaking distribution and revenue” thanks to a $240 million four-year media rights deal inked last season with CBS, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, and Scripps Sports.

There’s been a lot to keep up with in the offseason, which is why the NWSL’s ad campaign marking the start of this season is called “Keep Up,” according to CMO Julie Haddon. The ad, which builds off the league’s inaugural “We Play Here” campaign, serves to introduce the NWSL to the influx of new fans that have come on board as women’s sports, soccer in particular, have gained popularity.

“Our message in 2024 is to really capitalize against that momentum and hop on this tidal wave that is women’s soccer in America,” Haddon told Marketing Brew.

Allow us to reintroduce ourselves

Last year’s campaign kicked off with the line “allow us to reintroduce ourselves,” followed almost immediately by a shot of one of the most recognizable US soccer players, Megan Rapinoe. But Rapinoe retired last year, along with several other NWSL and national team legends, including Ali Krieger and Julie Ertz. Now, the league and its players are reintroducing themselves again.

This year’s ad features younger players like Alyssa and Gisele Thompson, 18- and 19-year-old sisters who play for Angel City FC, and 23-year-old Portland Thorns FC forward Sophia Smith. The spot also points out the two new teams, the Utah Royals and Bay FC.

The 60-second spot is narrated by Kansas City Current midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta, who appears in the ad doing her now-famous twerk celebration (even Travis Kelce knows it). Given that this season kicked off at the KC Current’s historic new stadium, it only made sense for a player from that team to narrate it, Haddon said.

“She’s got quite a great personality,” Haddon said of LaBonta. “We wanted to pick somebody that was going to be very vibrant and electric to help us open the season.”

The “Keep Up” campaign comes on the heels of a successful 2023 season for the NWSL: Game attendance across the league was up 40% from 2022, viewership was up 33%, commercial revenue increased by 98%, and team valuations also increased considerably, according to Haddon. The “We Play Here” campaign in particular led to increases in brand metrics like the league’s net promoter score, she said.

More than a woman(’s league)

Haddon doesn’t just want people to be aware that the NWSL exists—she, like other marketing execs, wants them to see the league as part of culture, she said.

To that end, in addition to the “Keep Up” ad, the league is continuing to build off its “We Play Here” campaign with a storybook motif. On Instagram, the league has been posting book covers based on each of its teams, and shirts featuring the covers are available for purchase on its web store.

“Our league is packed with stories, so we leaned into that quite a bit,” Haddon said.

Tying up with fashion is a key component of the NWSL’s culture play, she said, especially via kits. For the first time in the league’s history, each team has its own bespoke uniform that relates to its heritage and history, Haddon said. The Nike-designed jerseys, part of an almost-two-year collaboration with the sportswear giant, have somewhat taken over the Nike Football Instagram account in recent weeks.

“Our whole grand North Star is raising the game,” Haddon said. “And around our league, whether it’s the athletes, whether it’s clubs, whether it’s the partners, whether it’s the new media deals, everything is about how we raise this game and elevate it, grow it, and scale it. I think we’re leveling up.”