Unequalled’s record of high-profile partnerships is continuous to develop. The brand new skilled girls’s 3-on-3 basketball league — co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart — introduced on Friday a multiyear partnership with Sephora as its official and unique magnificence associate.
Sephora, a French-based make-up firm, is among the world’s largest private care and wonder corporations, providing beauty, skincare, perfume, nail, and hair care gadgets. Because of the partnership, the corporate will outfit the league’s new glam room at Unequalled’s new facility in Miami.
Unequalled ideas off in two weeks, on January seventeenth in Miami. The league boasts 36 WNBA gamers — together with Angel Reese, Sabrina Ionescu, Brittney Griner, Satou Sabally, and dozens of different All-Stars — and can span 9 weeks.
The league has already introduced partnerships with a number of different main corporations, together with Ally Monetary because the league’s official banking and founding associate; TNT Sports activities because the unique media rights associate; State Farm because the league’s residence and auto insurance coverage sponsor; Ticketmaster as its official ticketing associate; Wilson because the official sport ball producer; Below Armour because the official uniform associate and efficiency clothing store; Miller Lite because the official beer associate; and Mediapro North America because the manufacturing and internet hosting associate.
The venue goals to offer all Unequalled athletes the facilities and providers that they want — together with moms who select to convey their youngsters with them to the 9-week league. The Mediapro facility includes a hair and make-up room, a childcare middle, and extra.
“We’re going to offer daycare servicing for the moms on arrival,” Alex Bazzell, Unequalled’s president, instructed SB Nation. “It’s every thing that the athletes want below one roof in the case of something and every thing — on-court or off-court for them.”
Kirby Porter, Unequalled’s chief model officer, mentioned that Sephora was a pure match for the brand new skilled girls’s basketball league.
“Our partnership with Sephora is a pure model alignment for the league, and we’re grateful for Sephora’s assist in offering holistic assets and top-tier merchandise for any wants Unequalled athletes have all through the season,” mentioned Porter. “Sephora’s dedication to uplifting and empowering rising manufacturers deeply resonates with a league additionally trying to make waves as a brand new, various sports activities property.”
Sephora will present gamers with all of their magnificence wants all through the season, and be featured in on-court signage and all through the arrival corridor for participant entrances.
“At Sephora, our mission is to create an inclusive neighborhood the place all really feel welcome to have fun themselves, making a partnership with Unequalled — a league dedicated to elevating and empowering the best in girls’s basketball – a seamless collaboration between magnificence and sports activities,” mentioned Zena Arnold, Sephora’s chief advertising and marketing officer. “Sephora and Unequalled share many aligned values, together with advocating for fairness inside our communities and collectively we hope to encourage confidence and self-expression for all.”
Unequalled guarantees gamers a median wage of a minimum of $222,000, greater than twice the common WNBA wage. That doesn’t bear in mind fairness or income shares, each of which can be added to gamers’ salaries.
“We’re actually altering the outlook of the ecosystem holistically,” Bazzell mentioned. “You’re seeing extra leagues bumping up their pay as a result of that’s the place the house is now. We’re proud to play an element in that development of simply the economics of those gamers being paid some huge cash to play basketball. That’s the place we need to get to. It’s nice to have model offers, it’s nice to have all this off-court stuff, however on the finish of the day, we wish to have the ability to pay them excessive salaries on the courtroom.”