New Balance partners with the WNBA as the brand looks to grow in women’s sports

New Balance on Tuesday announced a multiyear deal with the WNBA, joining a growing roster of backers for women’s sports.

The agreement will make New Balance an official partner of the WNBA and will include broadcast, digital and retail content featuring Los Angeles Sparks rookie forward Cameron Brink.

New Balance joins Adidas, Nike, Puma and Under Armour as a league partner. The WNBA does not have an exclusive footwear partner, but only league sponsors are permitted to display their logos on court. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal comes as New Balance looks to grow the company’s share across basketball and to become a leader in women’s sports.

“It’s really exciting that we’re going to play a small part in continuing the growth and progress towards achieving parity in women’s sports,” said Jessica Vassall, global head of partnerships for New Balance.

Nearly a year ago, New Balance signed Brink, then a star at Stanford University. The four-time NCAA All-American became the first female basketball player on the New Balance roster. The brand also represents a handful of NBA stars, including Kawhi Leonard.

“Even though my parents worked at Nike for a long time, it was such an easy conversion. … I felt like family with [New Balance], and it felt like a great environment,” Brink told CNBC.

Brink, the Sparks’ No. 2 draft pick, suffered a season-ending ACL tear in June. She will miss the remainder of the 2024 season and the Paris Olympics as she rehabs.

New Balance said she will be featured in various lifestyle and performance campaigns, in addition to working with their teams to influence future products.

Nike, Jordan Brand, Adidas, Puma, and Under Armour currently dominate the women’s basketball market. But it is still only a fraction of the total pro market at just 6%, according to market research firm Circana. Still, men’s basketball sneakers are seeing sales declines of late, with the women’s business up double digits.

“[New Balance is] known for running and walking and training … but they have shown they can be a player in a number of new sports they’ve moved into — like tennis and baseball,” said Beth Goldstein, a footwear industry analyst at Circana.

New Balance also represents top ranked tennis player Coco Gauff and in 2023 signed Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani.

The 118-year-old Boston-based company did $6.5 billion in sales last year, up 23% from 2022, according to New Balance. For the last three years, the brand has seen double-digit growth globally across footwear and apparel, according to the company.

Foot Locker CEO Mary Dillon on a May 30 earnings call noted the strength of the brand once known for its “dad shoes.”

“New Balance continues to drive consumer excitement at scale as they are trending positively with consumers globally, importantly including our women’s men’s and kids’ consumers,” Dillon said.

The privately held entity is also growing its footprint, with 90 new stores planned in 2024.

Now, the company is turning to the women’s sports category to continue that growth trajectory — at a time when it has never been hotter.

“We are outperforming every single metric,” said Colie Edison, chief growth officer for the WNBA.

Helped in part by the popularity of rising stars like Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, the WNBA is now averaging 1.2 million viewers per game with attendance up 16% from last season.

“We’re seeing an influx of fans and partners, which allows us to create a new economic model that is going to set the league up for long-term business sustainability,” Edison said.