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\u201cEven when I was interviewing for this position (CEO), I just had this dream of getting a major beauty brand on board for the league because I think our league is just full of such personality and individuality and it just shows that you can be a fierce woman and be incredible at sport while also still being fashionable, confident and beautiful,\u201d WNBL chief executive Jennie Sager told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n
Sephora was top of Sager\u2019s list and cold called them to get them on board. Not long afterwards, Netflix dropped its hit series \u2018Running Point\u2019, where the female CEO of an NBA team, played by Kate Hudson, saves the club when she gets Sephora on board as a major sponsor.<\/p>\n
WNBL CEO Jennie Sager. Picture: Jason McCawley\/Getty Images for WNBLSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I had this dream from the get go and then when Running Point came out, I thought \u2018No, everyone\u2019s going to think that I stole the idea from there\u2019,\u201d laughs Sager.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve obviously got a long history with the WNBA, so having them on board in Australia is just an absolute game changer.\u201d<\/p>\n
As reported by foxsports.com.au, there\u2019s a shift in sports marketing globally which has seen more women\u2019s beauty and luxury brands investing in women\u2019s sports. Sephora sponsors the Golden State Valkyries and the Unrivalled competition in the US, among others, and their involvement in the WNBL is seen as a pivot moment for one of Australia\u2019s longest running domestic women\u2019s competitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Sephora, we believe in championing a world of inspiration and inclusivity, where everyone can celebrate their unique beauty. The WNBL has, since its inception, been a champion of diversity, self-expression and empowerment in sport for hundreds of Aussie athletes and the millions of fans. As the global beauty authority with a strong track record of supporting women\u2019s sport and culture, Sephora will leverage its scale, creativity and community to elevate the WNBL experience for fans, athletes and partners alike,\u201d said Sephora Global Chief Marketing Officer, Deborah Yeh.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been described as a landmark collaboration as, outside of Mecca supporting the Australian Open, there hasn\u2019t been the same level of involvement of women\u2019s brands in women\u2019s sport in Australia as overseas.<\/p>\n
Cayla George of the Southside Flyers. Picture: Sarah Reed\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
But as the face of a sports fan is changing, it makes sense that so too does the face of sports sponsorship.<\/p>\n
A recent study from the Wasserman Collective found 72 per cent of women globally identify as a sports fan, with more than half of those developing their fandom in the last five years.<\/p>\n
In addition, 58 per cent of female sports fans are more likely to think positively of a brand that supports women\u2019s sports, compared with just 38 per cent of men.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at our fan base there are see so many women of all ages and young girls, they\u2019re the customers of Sephora,\u201d said Sager.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we really wanted to grow this partnership as well to bring something to the fans and not just the athletes. So there are some really exciting things in store at that game day experience level for the fans next season as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
It caps a big year of change for the WNBL, a new logo, new leadership under CEO Jennie Sager, new ownership under a consortium of the NBL and the Wollemi Capital Group headed by Robyn Denholm, new CBA for the players with overdue benefits and salary rise for players and expansion confirmed.<\/p>\n
Sephora will be the Foundational and Official Beauty Partner for season 2026\/2027 and will partner the league for tonight\u2019s MVP awards in Sydney.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a signing almost reminiscent of the Netflix hit show \u2018Running Point\u2019, but the WNBL\u2019s announcement on Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[135330,2095,64,63,689,106420,726,239875,239873,239866,20924,2105,239867,239876,239874,239878,7681,15695,60132,16127,65674,239872,673,2041,2067,677,239877,239865,239868,53280,85,239871,239869,239870,670,2614,60122],"class_list":["post-469593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-absolute-game-changer","tag-america","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-basketball-news","tag-basketball","tag-cayla-george","tag-deborah-yeh","tag-female-sports-fans","tag-game-day","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-global-beauty","tag-global-beauty-authority","tag-global-beauty-giant","tag-hit-show","tag-ian-hitchcock","tag-jason-mccawley","tag-jennie-sager","tag-kate-hudson","tag-lucy-olsen","tag-luxury-brands-investing","tag-new-south-wales","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-pivot-moment","tag-robyn-denholm","tag-running-point","tag-sam-squiers","tag-sports","tag-sports-fan","tag-sports-sponsorship","tag-supports-women","tag-sydney","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-wollemi-capital-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}