Inside AT&T’s WNBA All-Star Weekend playbook

As a WNBA sponsor since 2019 and an NBA partner for decades, AT&T knows a thing or two about All-Star Weekends.

For one, not all of them are the same, especially in the WNBA, where the star power has been getting bigger.

In the W, which is hosting its All-Star Game at Chicago’s United Center on July 25, brand activations used to be few and far between, even as recently as four years ago, when the event last took place in Chicago, according to Sabina Ahmed, assistant VP of sponsorships and experiential at AT&T.

“It’s kind of a fun thing to look back and think about what that experience looked like—a much smaller footprint overall,” Ahmed told Marketing Brew. Since then, there’s been “tremendous growth, not only for the number of brands that are participating, but each brand has really grown [to the] next level in terms of the activations they’re doing.”

To “continue that momentum,” AT&T, the title partner of WNBA All-Star, is activating with tech integrations, athlete partnerships, social content, fan experiences inside and out of the United Center, community engagement programs, and more for the W’s 30th anniversary, Ahmed said. We spoke to her about AT&T’s strategy around the tournament.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What are some of the biggest ways AT&T is showing up at WNBA All-Star this year?

Putting the fans at the core, the experiences they have in big arenas like the United Center sometimes [are not] be seamless: there’s a heavy congestion, heavy traffic, people are trying to share photos with each other, trying to FaceTime each other or their families who weren’t able to go to the game, they’re trying to catch a rideshare home. We want to make sure that we are creating an elevated experience, a connectivity experience, for all fans, AT&T customers or not, so we are bringing [data boost product] Turbo Live, and customers and noncustomers can sign up for it…That’s going to be our big focal point in the arena, beyond all the wonderful branding and experiences we’re bringing to the table.

How are you activating outside of the United Center?

We got some great learnings from NBA All-Star in LA, where we took the experience outside of Crossover and created a whole AT&T-owned experience with the Dunk District at Venice Beach. We’re doing something very similar with Pioneer Court, where we are bringing an interactive, engaging, really robust experience for fans to engage with our brand, engage with the sport they love, play fun games, interactive games, and also do good. We have a donation component there as well, we’ve got meet and greets with athletes like A’ja Wilson, and we’ve got a number of premium items and giveaways, like premium custom tote bags…It gives us an opportunity to really connect with fans.

How do you incorporate athlete partners into your All-Star activations?

For us, it’s about the fans, and the fans want to meet these amazing athletes…We’ve been able to partner with these amazing athletes in a more long-term capacity, but we certainly bring them into our experience for meet and greets, and we do a lot of social content with them as well, because a lot of fans are not able to attend the game or be part of these activities in Chicago.

What’s one strategy that has worked well at WNBA All-Star Weekends year after year?

The W is so rooted in fashion and beauty and entertainment, and a lot of our activations do tend to bring in those elements…This year, we’re really focusing on fashion-forward items, like a custom tote bag as an example, and giving premium items to fans, because that’s what they’re interested in and care about.

Are there any major similarities or differences between how you show up at WNBA v. NBA All-Star weekends?

There’s definitely some similarities when it comes to fashion and culture, and tapping into the fandom as well, because there’s tremendous fandom around both [leagues’] athletes. That said, the fandom that comes with WNBA and women in sports in general, and the kind of tremendous momentum and growth, [is different]. Both men and women are more likely to take action with brands that support women in sports, so capitalizing on that sort of fandom is good for us and makes business sense for us. We want to make sure that we’re very intentional about stories we’re telling, the focus we have on the athletes that we partner with, and bringing the fans into that experience. While there are similarities, we always want to make sure that we’re creating those custom experiences…that really speak to W fans in particular.

What are your goals coming out of the weekend?

From a broad perspective, everyone knows who AT&T is, and they’re aware of the brand, [so] it is all about how we’re creating association between AT&T and a tremendous league like the WNBA. The more people that associate us with a league, or a partner, or talent, it drives stronger metrics around brand love, perception, and loyalty, as well as consideration.