NWSL’s Historic Deal With Delta

Delta Joining The Surging League With A “Significant Investment”

For the longest time, fans of women’s soccer had to suffer through defunct leagues, mismanaged teams, and a lack of an overall structure to grow the game. In fact, the World Cup only introduced a women’s competition in 1991, 61 years after its inaugural tournament. However, investments are pouring in and women’s soccer is finally taking off in North America.

Last week, the NWSL, North America’s best women’s soccer competition, announced a multi-year partnership with Delta, one of America’s largest airlines. Although more details on the agreement were not made public, a statement from Delta described the investment as “significant”. It went on to say that Delta would focus on fan engagement, branding opportunities, and supporting women empowerment and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Although the timing is purely coincidental, the WNBA is also struggling with an issue related to airlines. Earlier in March, New York Liberty’s owners were fined $500,000 for using chartered flights in the second half of the 2020-21 season. The league, who originally sought a $1,000,000 fine, said that using chartered flights results in a competitive advantage that is not sustainable across the league according to the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement. The WNBA’s commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, stated that chartered flights for the entire league would cost more than $20,000,000 per season and would not be possible without more sponsorships. Although the NWSL’s partnership with Delta does not include charter flights, a spokesperson from the league said that they would work together to meet the travel needs of the teams and that details involving travel plans will continuously evolve.

However, with the way that the NWSL is trending, chartered flights might not be out of the question in the near future. The league has successfully acquired multiple new partnerships with notable brands in the past two years. Last May, the NWSL teamed up with Mastercard in another multi-year partnership focused on improving the fan experience both inside the stadium and at home. This follows other top-tier sponsorship agreements with Budweiser, Ally, Nationwide, Nike, and Verizon.

There is no telling how much revenue the league will gain from all these sponsorships, but it is great to see large companies invest in women’s soccer. Although the NWSL is still a ways away from establishing itself as the best soccer league in the world, the progress is undeniable and women’s soccer is growing steadily across North America.

The NWSL kicks off their annual pre-season tournament, the Challenge Cup, on March 18 with a match between two of the newest NWSL clubs, San Diego Wave FC and Angel City FC, which can be viewed on CBS (United States) or Twitch (international). 

Published: March 11, 2022 - Issue 29 of The Sport Marketeer