Sponsorship dollars are starting to follow Women’s football: Mastercard takes the lead with the National Women’s Soccer League

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is about to get bigger. The United Soccer League officially stated in late September that it will create a professional Division II women's league, the USL Super League, that will launch in 2023, which will reside with the NWSL.

Women’s soccer is experiencing exponential growth globally—a point that has not gone unnoticed by some of the major brands, including Mastercard.

In May of 2021, Mastercard announced a multi-year partnership with the NWSL, which focuses on elevating visibility for the sport and fan engagement. And it’s driven by consumers of the mega multinational brand.

Key to its deal is the appointment of Portland Thorns FC’s Wing-Back/Winger Crystal Dunn as one of its global ambassadors.

While Mastercard's support of women’s soccer is not new, the rise and interest in the sport has reached that level of undeniability. Importantly, Mastercard’s latest initiative marks a change in sponsorship deals for women’s soccer—or largely the lack thereof—and gives a major lift for female black athletes on a global scale.

No better time to partner with NWSL

“Given the popularity and continuing rise of interest in women’s soccer, there is no better time to partner with NWSL,” says Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President of the Healthcare Business at Mastercard.

Its strategy to support the league and women’s soccer overall is grounded in creating change.

“Mastercard believes that too much of our world was designed without women in mind – and without women involved,” says Rajamannar.

To that end, the brand has staked its commitment to helping reshape the world —how it is “designed, coded and constructed” by bringing diverse perspectives to the table to give way to new ideas and possibilities for women.

Dunn’s ambassadorship is one way Mastercard is supporting its ideals. Rajamannar points out that diversity and inclusion are critical to how the company operates and is evidenced by its global brand ambassador portfolio that spans tennis, golf, football, and rugby.

Canadian soccer player Kadeisha Buchanan, South African rugby national team player Piwokuhle Nyanda and French footballer Wendie Renard are among them.

“This has always been a priority for us and will continue to be because we understand the power and importance of representation,” Rajamannar adds.

Commercial afterlife

In Dunn, Rajamannar says there’s much commonality.

“She brings a tenacity to the game and her passion for advancing the league and the women’s game here in the United States are perfectly aligned with our goals as a brand," he says.

Dunn at 29 is already a decorated player from high school to her present status. Her club career includes Washington Spirit, Chelsea, North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns, which she joined in 2020.

Internationally, Dunn has competed for the U.S. through the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2008 and for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2012, both in Germany and Japan. At the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, Dunn was tied for scoring the most goals on behalf of the U.S. In February 2020, Dunn played her 100th match for her home country.

She was the only American player to start in all six matches of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan.

Mike Golub, President of Business at Portland Timbers & Thorns, commends her personally and professionally, but addresses the bigger picture of what’s transpiring.

"Heretofore we had always seen in women’s soccer World Cup teams that resonate, do great things, and have players and stars that emerge from those games and go on to have some commercial afterlife just after the event would end,” says Golub.

“But there isn’t that ongoing presence commercially that they should have, given their talents. And so one of the exciting things about NWSL is we are gaining traction, increasing traction for our players, for our brand and for our league.”

The deal with Dunn is one among several bright spots for the team and the league overall. Golub references the exclusive broadcast agreement made with CBS Sports for live matches across its network, cable and streaming channels. The NWSL has also struck an exclusive deal with Amazon-owned Twitch, its digital streaming platform.

Manifestations of progress

“It’s just a really exciting, heady time for the NWSL,” says Golub.

“These and other deals are all manifestations of progress.”

Golub acknowledges that there is still much work to be done, but what has come to pass is a testament to where the league, in its short history, has arrived.

For Mastercard’s part, its ambition through its sponsorship program is to ignite the passion of soccer among the masses. The brand’s Priceless platform is central to Mastercard’s desire to create memorable experiences for the soccer community.

Mastercard has begun rolling out “Priceless experiences” both virtually and in-person. It created the VIP Game Day Experience, which give fans the opportunity to watch their favorite NWSL team at a regular season match from prime seating. The fan and up to three guests also enjoy pre-game warm-ups, a prepaid Mastercard for food and beverage, and a team gear swag bag.

And as part of this partnership, Mastercard will create a soccer-themed curriculum for its science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program, Girls4Tech, which is tailored to fit its many and varied sports sponsorships, like rugby, and golf—in addition to soccer.

Mastercard will also give time and resources to educating players on their own financial wellbeing.

Support in the form of sponsorships, partnerships, resources, and collaboration are critical components to drive the growth of any group, says Rajamannar.

Mastercard, he says, strives to harness its wide network to help extend the passion of soccer to more people through this partnership.

“We can only hope that by bringing women’s soccer to more people around the world, it results in building more momentum and greater expansion for the sport.”