Reign on

The GIST: As mentioned, the PWHL unveiled new names, logos, and colors for its inaugural six franchises, which sparked intense reactions across the hockey community. Part of what caught fans off guard is that the PWHL decided team branding without major input from teams, players, or fans, which Front Office Sports explained is a result of the league’s structure.

The process: Last year, PWHL teams were simply addressed by their city, such as PWHL Toronto and PWHL Boston. The league (re)introduced the inaugural six on Monday as the Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Victoire de Montréal, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres, with each name inspired by its respective locale.

• In the beginning of the process, the PWHL fielded input from general managers and players, and scoped out fan opinions on social media. However, all final branding decisions were made by a small committee without consulting teams, although the group did run the names by the PWHL’s advisory board.

• The league did things as a cohesive unit because of its current structure — the PWHL is collectively owned by investor Mark Walter, so individual stakeholders didn’t need to be consulted. That being said, teams took the reins when it came to activating their new brands, largely by spotlighting support from players. Reign on.

The landscape: Historically, teams have rolled out franchise branding without public input, but it’s less common these days. The WNBA’s inaugural squads had a say in their names in the ’90s, and fan input was a crucial part of the branding process for more recent teams like the W’s Golden State Valkyries and the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars.

• It makes sense: Sports franchises can be a challenging sell in brand new markets, so involving fans early can help cultivate a fanbase and create hype, not to mention generating a sense of loyalty and ownership.

Zooming out: The PWHL proved to be a smash hit in its first season with record-breaking attendance, historic viewership, and over 40 corporate sponsorships — and that was without unique team identities to rally behind. Next season is poised to handle the league’s rapid growth with venue upgrades in Toronto and Montréal, and new markets like Pittsburgh feeling out the ice.

The GIST: Following Monday’s story on how the “sport-curious” contingent among Gen Z consumers operates, sponsorship analysis platform SponsorPulse shared some of its own insightful data about how the Zoomer generation engages with sports and pop culture.

🏀 Gen Z’s favorite sports are men’s basketball and football. Pro basketball has repeatedly proven to be a generational fave, with SponsorPulse sharing that the NBA has the highest share of engagement from this demographic (58%), followed by college football (49%) and men’s March Madness (48%).

• However, women’s sports aren’t far behind. The USWNT’s valuable brand comes into play with the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the WNBA reaching 45% and 43% engagement, respectively.

🎮 Technology will power up Gen Z’s passion for sports. Zoomers expect their interest to increase the most in leagues like the NFL (32%) and the NBA (30%), but gaming properties like Call of Duty World League (22%) and esports (19%) aren’t far behind.

• Part of what keeps younger fans interested in the game is tech-supported experiences — think WNBA games streamed in VR or the league’s revamped app, which saw a 147% increase in active monthly users in 2023 after relaunch. Gen Z loves to play along.

📺 Gen Zers can’t resist the drama. They engage with Disney and NFL content most frequently on a weekly basis, but their love of reality TV falls close behind. Zoomers root for athletes with main character energy, and as the lines between athletes and entertainers become blurrier, brands can use cross-promotional appearances to their advantage, like Wicked’s timely collab.

• Other recent examples include Nike submitting the NWSL’s 2023 season for the Golden Globes’ “Best Drama” category after a Cinderella championship run by Gotham FC, or more classic crossovers like rugby and TikTok star Ilona Maher leveraging her post-Olympic glow into a Dancing With The Stars appearance. Tap dance, meet ankle tap.