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Year-on-year, engagement with WNBA-related content has skyrocketed, with Engagement Rate up by 52.29% and total Engagement increasing by 51.55%, despite a 29.69% drop in total reach, suggesting a more invested, active audience. Meanwhile, content volume rose over 24%, showing growing media interest and sustained storytelling momentum around the league.
Published On: July 25, 2025
The result in 2025:
Over £207M in Earned Media Value, from 5,500+ pieces of content reaching 1.56B followers and driving 198M engagements across platforms. In May alone, coinciding with the season launch and key tournament moments, the league drove £48.3M EMV with a standout 2.67% Engagement Rate.
The WNBA’s growing influence presents a clear opportunity for brands to engage with a highly invested, culturally connected audience. As beauty, fashion, and entertainment continue to converge with sport, brands that activate in this space early, and with authenticity, stand to gain both relevance and long-term impact. The data shows that this is no longer an emerging trend, but an increasingly valuable platform for driving meaningful engagement and measurable return.
The most impactful profiles span traditional media, celebrities and fashion.
Vogue generated a total Earned Media Value of £5.9M, with one of its standout contributions being the Winter 2025 cover featuring Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese.
The feature tapped into the WNBA’s growing cultural relevance, with Reese reflecting on her lifelong love for fashion: “I was always in my mom’s closet… I still want to look put together.” The cover positioned Reese not just as an athletic talent, but as a symbol of how today’s athletes are shaping beauty, identity, and influence far beyond the court.
A Facebook post from Vogue featuring top WNBA tunnel looks generated an additional £302.9K in EMV, confirming the tunnel’s growing role as a key fashion moment.
Another standout came via YouTube, where Sue Bird’s “Bird’s Eye View” interview with Golden State Valkyries’ Kate Martin generated a remarkable 941.99% engagement rate. Fans praised Kate Martin’s relatability and authenticity, with top comments like “Kate Martin is authentic and grounded… her mental attitude and honesty are inspiring.”
This signals a growing appetite for long-form, player-led storytelling. For brands, it’s a reminder that today’s WNBA stars aren’t just elite athletes, they are charismatic storytellers building loyal communities that are primed for meaningful partnerships.
As engagement with the WNBA surges, beauty brands are emerging as some of the most culturally attuned and commercially successful partners. With athletes increasingly seen as style icons and storytellers, the WNBA has become a powerful new platform for beauty brands to reach Gen Z and millennial audiences in ways that feel relevant, values-driven, and impactful. From on-court glamour to viral game-time moments, brands like Sephora, Fenty Beauty, and Essie are proving that the intersection of sport and beauty is no longer a niche, it’s a strategic opportunity. For brands looking to show up where culture is unfolding in real-time, not just the WNBA, but the sports arena is becoming an essential space to activate.
As the official beauty partner of the team, Golden State Valkyries, Sephora has redefined what modern sports sponsorship can look like, moving far beyond traditional logo placement to create authentic, high-impact moments that generate real online buzz.
The brand’s mid-game gift bag drop, captured in a viral TikTok video by @monica.morales17, achieved a staggering 1,281.47% engagement rate, turning a live activation into one of the most talked-about brand moments of the season. The video quickly attracted comments like “this is such great marketing—I loveeeee, so smart Sephora” and “it was like the Hunger Games lol,” showing how Sephora’s bold move resonated deeply with fans.
@monica.morales17 this was truly iconic!! @Valkyries @sephora 🙌🏼 #sanfrancisco #valkyries #goldenstatevalkyries #sephora #chasecenter #sftok #wnba #ballhalla #womenssports
Overall, Sephora’s partnership efforts drove £733.4K in EMV and reached over 27.3M people. These results are the product of a deliberate brand strategy: as Srivatsa Arnold, head of Sephora’s partnership team, shared, “We established three essential criteria for any successful partnership: it must align with our core values, go beyond logo-slapping, and create experiences that are both enjoyable and impactful.”
Through its Valkyries sponsorship, Sephora is proving how beauty brands can show up meaningfully in sport, by creating shareable moments that spark genuine engagement and online conversation.
Fenty Beauty made headlines with its first-ever sports sponsorship, becoming the official beauty partner of the New York Liberty. The partnership reflects Fenty’s continued commitment to diversity, individuality, and self-expression, values that align closely with the WNBA’s growing cultural influence.
The collaboration generated £552.9K in EMV and reached 22.8M people. A TikTok posted by Allure, featuring Liberty players sharing their Fenty favourites, added to the campaign’s momentum, driving £45,508 in Media Value and helping extend the partnership’s cultural relevance across beauty and sports audiences alike.
@allure Today, @Fenty Beauty announced their partnership with the @nyliberty, making this the brand’s first official #WNBA partnership 💄 Tune in as some of our favorite players tell us about their beauty faves ✨ #allure #fenty #fentybeauty #rihanna #nyliberty #newyorkliberty #liberty #ellietheelephant #ellie #natashacloud #jonqueljones #jj #nyarasabally #izzyharrison
This move places Fenty Beauty among a growing list of brands recognizing the WNBA as a platform for impactful, value-driven partnerships.
Essie brought beauty and personality courtside through a playful and impactful partnership with Ellie the Elephant, the official mascot of the WMBA nd now a mascot ambassador for the brand.
The collaboration generated £111K in Media Value and reached over 6.1M people, proving that creativity and character-led content can drive strong returns. A standout moment came from PopSugar’s two TikToks featuring Ellie’s Essie-themed looks and dance routines, which collectively delivered £39,442 in EMV and a 5.51% engagement rate.
@popsugar.official And THIS is why @Ellie the Elephant is our favorite mascot of all time! The personality, the work ethic, the dance moves, and on top of that serving looks every single day of her life?! Name a better mascot. We’ll wait. 👀 Not to mention that she’s super humble and down-to-earth in person. We love you Ellie! 🫶 @essie #EllieTheElephant #Essie #Manicure #Mascot #NYLiberty #WNBA #Beauty
With comments like “Name a better mascot. We’ll wait” and “We love you Ellie!”, the campaign didn’t just entertain, it reinforced brand love and memorability. By leaning into personality-led storytelling, Essie demonstrated how creative, culturally attuned activations can deepen emotional connection, spark conversation, and drive meaningful engagement beyond product placement.
For brands, it’s proof that aligning with fan-favorite figures in sport, mascots included, can deliver standout results in a crowded media landscape.
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