Tangerine: Presenting Partner of the 2023 WNBA Canada Game
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Women’s Sports Partnership
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
In 2021, Tangerine Bank became the WNBA’s first-ever foundational partner in Canada, amplifying the league’s marketing efforts across the country and contributing to boosting both viewership (regular season up +129% YoY) and WNBA merchandise sales (NBAStore.ca increased +45% YoY) in 2021. Since then, their commitment to the WNBA has grown and strengthened, resulting in presenting partnership of the first-ever WNBA game in Canada in 2023 – a watershed, record-setting moment for women’s professional sports in Canada, that wouldn’t have been possible without their support.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
In 2023, Tangerine's support of the WNBA Canada Game, and the league at large, set new benchmarks for women’s professional sports, corporate support of women’s sports, energized a new fanbase and collectively raised the profile of the WNBA in Canada. While the momentum for women’s sports has been growing, the record-viewership, attention beyond the court and specifically around the 'Signed, Toronto' sculpture served as tangible proof that the WNBA fan base is growing, and thriving, on a significant scale. Tangerine's season-long support and fan activations continue to shine a brighter spotlight on the WNBA's players, inspire young girls through sport and reinforce their steadfast commitment to empowering women through strong community programming & collaborations.
Objective
Three years ago, Tangerine Bank became the WNBA’s first foundational partner in Canada, laying the groundwork for future league partnerships and bolstering the league’s communications and marketing efforts. Steadfast in their support of women’s basketball and led by female President & CEO Gillian Riley, they doubled down on their commitment in 2021 by signing star Canadian WNBA player Kia Nurse as a brand endorser, plus supporting grassroots organizations like the YMCA and Lady Ballers. With a proven track record of not only making meaningful financial contributions to better women’s basketball, but activating around major events and campaigns to amplify the attention around grassroots and professional women's sports, Tangerine was an ideal teammate to present the first-ever WNBA game in Canada. Their presenting partnership of the first WNBA Game in Canada reinforced their position as the 'bank of basketball', building upon existing partnerships with the NBA and Toronto Raptors. This game was the natural next step in a mutually-beneficial partnership, and by aligning on key objectives- build awareness of the WNBA in Canada, sell-out tickets to the game, and boost viewership - together, Tangerine and the WNBA charted a course to record-setting success.
Strategy & Execution
Tangerine played a critical role in increasing national awareness of the game, league, driving viewership and bolstering fan engagement in Toronto around the WNBA Canada Game & beyond. Based on prior research, it was determined that nearly all WNBA fans are also NBA fans; as the NBA database in Canada includes nearly 1M fans, the league and Tangerine leveraged this channel as a springboard for growing a WNBA database (IMI Insights, 2021) and utilized email marketing to drive attendance around their activation celebrating the game. The WNBA and Tangerine teamed up to construct a 12-foot-tall (representing the 12 league's teams), larger-than-life WNBA logo sculpture to mark the first WNBA game in Canada. The sculpture, titled “Signed, Toronto”, travelled to different locations around downtown Toronto and fans were encouraged to visit, take photos & sign the sculpture, and enter to win tickets to the sold-out game. A new campaign and :30 broadcast spot, titled “Lexi’s Seat”, debuted ahead of the WNBA game and was designed to showcase the impact and inspiration this game could have on the millions of girls who don’t often see themselves reflected in professional sports.
Organizations
- NBA Canada
- WNBA
- Tangerine Bank
Links
Credits
Ashton Lawrence
Communications
National Basketball Association
Daniel Freiman
Marketing & Fan Engagement
National Basketball Association
Simon Gordon
Partnerships
National Basketball Association
Jake Clements
Marketing Partnerships
Tangerine
Leah MacNab
Managing Director - NBA Canada
National Basketball Association
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
