Ladies’s sports activities could also be “having a second,” however a brand new three-year sponsorship deal between the NWSL’s Washington Spirit and CVS Well being is another signal it is a sea change relatively than a fleeting development.
The goes past the customary soccer jersey sponsorship, although that side of what each events name a “multimillion-dollar funding within the membership and ladies’s sports activities” is unquestionably essential. The partnership — one the Spirit say is among the many most respected sponsorships within the NWSL — extends to group programming centered on ladies’s well being, participant panels and extra.
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The target is to hold on the speedy progress seen in ladies’s sports activities, and inside the NWSL particularly. That emphasis is particularly noticeable at a quickly evolving group in Washington. What was primarily a small enterprise in 2019, fielding a staff with a 5,000-capacity suburban stadium, has develop into a standard-bearer within the house.
Spirit majority proprietor Michele Kang — who initially purchased a stake within the membership in 2020 earlier than taking on in 2022 — is aware of instances have modified. This sponsorship contrasts with what she encountered simply over 4 years in the past when she joined the membership, she informed USA TODAY throughout an unique, wide-ranging interview Thursday.
“I believe initially at the moment, you strategy some manufacturers, they’re like, ‘What? Ladies’s sports activities? Ladies’s soccer? I did not even know there was an expert league,'” Kang mentioned, chuckling on the considered how far Washington has come. “So, the general consciousness was not that prime.
“From that time to now, I imply, the numbers show themselves: the viewership, the attendance … After I first took over, common attendance was, what, a pair thousand? Now we’re speaking about approaching 15,000 (folks), sellout crowds final yr.”
Spirit communications employees mentioned the membership’s 2025 season ticket membership gross sales are “near 7,000,” with Washington’s first dwelling recreation of the season developing on Saturday. The Spirit play the Kansas Metropolis Present at 7:30 p.m. ET.
“It isn’t simply us both, proper? In case you take a look at NWSL throughout on the league stage, the viewership principally doubled, and attendance is (up) greater than 50% on common,” Kang mentioned. “So, it is confirmed. I haven’t got to persuade folks anymore, as a result of the proof is within the numbers and the joy.”
NWSL amongst main indicators of progress in ladies’s sports activities
These numbers observe with earlier this week. Ladies’s sports activities generated $1.88 billion in income in 2024, in accordance with the research, exceeding the accounting agency’s 2023 expectations by roughly $600 million. Their forecasts for 2025 say that quantity will develop to $2.35 billion.
That progress is mirrored in NWSL membership valuations. In July, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger and his spouse, Willow Bay, the dean of the USC Annenberg Faculty for Communication and Journalism, at a ladies’s sports activities report valuation of $250 million.
On the rising buzz across the Spirit, Kang particularly cited the final two video games on the membership’s 20,000-seat dwelling, Audi Discipline, when the staff survived playoff epics in opposition to Bay FC and NJ/NY Gotham FC. CVS Well being’s Senior Vice President of Authorities and Public Affairs, Melissa Schulman, was in attendance as a fan, and introduced up these exact same video games in a separate interview with USA TODAY as a proof of idea.
” was not like something I’ve seen earlier than with the Spirit,” Schulman mentioned. “To me, in some methods it was form of like an arrival second: That is what that is going to be. That is what this ought to be, and that is a tremendous factor to be part of.”
CVS Well being’s partnership with the Spirit , a uncommon little bit of continuity in a league that has undergone huge change on and off the sector. There was a time limit the place that might have modified, as Kang finally received out in a battle over Washington’s future with former homeowners Steve Baldwin and Invoice Lynch.
Per Kang, it was a second the place some manufacturers adopted a wait-and-see strategy, whereas others got here ahead with proposals that may have set a decrease bar for future offers.
“We did not have any front-of-jersey sponsor,” Kang mentioned. “We have been in a rush. There have been some legacy companions who have been prepared to step up and provides us the funding, however it was not practically what I believed was the true worth of the Spirit. However extra importantly, I actually needed to search for a very basic, conventional American model. I needed any individual to assist legitimize what we’re attempting to do right here.”
Kang added that her objective then, and now, was for the Spirit to forge “a long-term relationship, not only one yr or two, as a result of — particularly provided that we’re searching for kind of respected, basic, high American model — we needed to essentially nurture that relationship and construct it to be a mutually profitable effort.”
“Our dedication was, mutually, a long-term relationship, not simply, ‘Oh, ladies’s sports activities proper now are sizzling. Let’s simply see what it takes, what it is like,’ kind of factor,” Kang mentioned.
However Kang wasn’t the rationale CVS Well being was drawn to the Spirit, Schulman mentioned.
“To be completely trustworthy, it was the gamers who first offered me on this, as a result of there have been these shiny, gifted younger ladies who have been so pushed and so dedicated,” Schulman mentioned.
Then, it was gamers like U.S. ladies’s nationwide staff midfielder Andi Sullivan and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury. Immediately, the gamers are nonetheless an enormous issue with USWNT star Trinity Rodman and reigning NWSL Rookie of the 12 months Croix Bethune, amongst different massive names.
Kang funding a pivotal second in ladies’s sports activities
The connection between membership and sponsor has grown past the on-field product as Washington has emerged as a pacesetter within the NWSL and ladies’s sports activities as an entire. Having the No. 6 firm on the Fortune 500 record — a rating of the most important U.S. firms by income — is not any small feat and lends credibility to the Spirit’s motion, Schulman mentioned. CVS Well being sits on the high with giants like Walmart, Amazon and Apple.
“I believe it is the gamers, it is the staff, however it’s Michele’s magic and her imaginative and prescient and her dedication,” Schulman mentioned. “This can be a businesswoman who got here in, checked out this and mentioned ‘These gamers aren’t being handled proper. This is not the suitable method to run a membership. I’ve acquired a greater thought.’ She went by means of hell to get that possession …”
That could be an understatement. Kang’s acquisition of a majority stake got here months after back-to-back scandals that emerged in a watershed 2021 NWSL season. With head coach Richie Burke and CEO Larry Finest — each hand-picked by Baldwin — fired following studies, Kang moved to accumulate their stakes, resulting in a months-long battle for management. , who finally at a reported valuation of $35 million.
Since then, a lot has been product of Kang being a singular determine within the sporting world, particularly after and , a world, multi-club possession mannequin that features the Spirit, French powerhouse Olympique Lyonnais, and English aspect London Metropolis Lionesses. Kang, who made her cash as a well being know-how magnate, demurred on that entrance, insisting the remainder of the NWSL’s homeowners share her ambitions for his or her golf equipment and the league.
That mentioned, Kang was candid that relative to different sports activities, the NWSL nonetheless has an extended method to go and offers like this one are nonetheless simply foundational constructing blocks for future sustainability.
“Our eyes and requirements are excessive, and I believe we’re all getting there,” Kang mentioned. “That is why I believe the league is transferring ahead, as a result of it is not only one proprietor, it is a number of groups, nearly all groups happening the identical path.
“It is an ongoing effort, and I believe that we nonetheless have an extended method to go. We’re form of getting there, however the measurement and the amount of the connection, … will hopefully result in the much more constructive media offers coming down the pike.”