A seemingly natural partnership between brand and team has come to fruition as the WNBA champion New York Liberty signed Liberty Mutual Insurance as their lower jersey patch sponsor. The insurance company replaces financial securities firm Webull, the previous jersey sponsor from 2021 until 2024.
The new patch will appear on the abdomen of each Liberty jersey below the number. While Liberty Mutual is not new to sports marketing, this is the first jersey patch deal in company history. Neither side shared the financial details of the sponsorship, though this is one of the largest partnership deals in the team’s history.
Catherine Carlson, the EVP of global partnerships for BSE Global (the Liberty’s ownership group), said that the team had always hoped to build a relationship with the insurer based on having similar brand identities and shared interest in community work. Yet she said it took sustained outreach from BSE’s sales director to make the connection.
“He actually read me back the one-sentence response: ‘We’re huge women’s sports fans on this end, and so excited to see all the excitement around WNBA and women’s sports in general,’” Carlson said of the response in a video interview. “The entire executive team of Liberty Mutual proved to be just as big as New York Liberty fans as we are. In fact, they were actually with us in the suite when the Liberty won the championship this last year.”
In addition to the jersey patch, the well-known characters of both brands will come together often throughout their partnership. Liberty Mutual’s buddy-cop characters Doug and LiMu Emu (an emu) will link up with Ellie the Elephant, the Liberty’s ever-popular mascot, for multiple activations. Doug and LiMu will appear as on-court mascots alongside Ellie and the trio will have frequent interactions for social media. The team’s “celebrity row” at Barclays Center will be rebranded as “Ce-Liberty Row” as well. Liberty Mutual’s insignia will appear on the court, and the seatbacks and kickplates on the team’s bench.
The activations with the three characters may be synergistic for both team and brand, but they also speak to how popular Ellie has become outside of Liberty games. Not since the debut of Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers’ mascot, has a team’s character organically built a strong presence of its own.
Balancing Ellie’s personality and the team’s authenticity with this new commercial opportunity won’t be an issue, Carlson said.
“What’s interesting with brands and the New York Liberty is we’re attracting brands that perhaps haven’t even worked with the WNBA,” she said about Ellie’s popularity. “It’s actually opened the types of industries and the type of brands that we talk to.”
“Ellie became a sensation. People know Liberty Mutual for Doug and LiMu, bringing the two together is actually fun. I think people will get a kick out of it.”
Barclays, which has the naming rights of the Liberty and Brooklyn Nets’ home arena, signed a jersey patch sponsorship with the Liberty last season. The Barclays logo resides above the Nike swoosh that appears on all WNBA uniforms.
A sponsorship with the defending champions (especially champions who play in the largest media market in the U.S.) could have a notable price tag. To note, the Phoenix Mercury signed a multiyear sponsorship deal last season with venture capital firm Cleveland Avenue that was reportedly worth a league-leading $3 million per season.
Although insurance companies pulled back some spending in recent years due to rising claims and inflation, 2024 saw an uptick in ad spend from the four largest property and casualty insurers: Progressive, Allstate, State Farm (February’s Super Bowl withstanding) and Geico.
Liberty Mutual has a ubiquitous presence on television, and Jenna Lebel, Liberty Mutual’s CMO for its U.S. retail markets, believes the high engagement of women’s sports fans will be incredibly beneficial for both sides. She cited a February study of women’s sports TV from research firm EDO that claims ads airing during women’s sports events generate 40% more engagement than the typical primetime spot.
“Sponsorships provide advantages that aren’t always achievable through on-air media spending,” Lebel said in an email, “allowing us to engage directly with fans and strengthen our involvement within the community.”
Sponsors have been more than happy with their partnerships with the Liberty, with several pre-negotiating parade floats for the team’s championship parade prior to the start of the 2024 season. New York had come off a tough WNBA Finals loss to the Las Vegas Aces the prior season but was expected to be among the title favorites in 2024. With the team fulfilling its on-court promise, the sponsored floats rode down Manhattan’s Canyon of Heroes this past October.
The Liberty are making even bigger moves on the business end as the latest WNBA team to commit to building a practice facility—at a cost of $80 million, and fully funded by ownership—that will open in 2027.
At $130 million, New York ranks third in Sportico’s WNBA franchise valuations behind Las Vegas and Seattle. In 2023, the team generated $18 million in revenue, a total that is certain to have risen during its 2024 championship campaign.
(This story has been corrected in the first paragraph to clarify that Liberty Mutual is the abdomen jersey patch partner of the New York Liberty.)
