Ally becomes the first and founding partner for 3x3 women’s basketball league Unrivaled

The GIST: Unrivaled — the 3x3 pro women’s basketball league founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier — made its first major partnership announcement on Friday. Unsurprisingly, the first sponsor to sign with the new league is Ally, the financial institution that’s been transforming women’s sports through investment via its 50/50 Pledge. Dropping dimes.

The details: As a founding partner, Ally’s logo will be omnipresent across digital content, in-arena signage, and on team jerseys. The bank also plans on sponsoring in-person activations to engage fans, such as the WNBA All-Star panel that publicized the partnership on Saturday.

• As per usual, the veteran women’s sports sponsor is going above and beyond in its investment — Ally is providing an advance on media spend, which will ensure fans can view all Unrivaled games and gives the league an edge in its ongoing negotiations with potential media partners.

• Plus, Ally named Stewart to its Team Ally squad of ambassadors, which also includes the Las Vegas Aces’ Sydney Colson and Alysha Clark.

The basketball connection: Ally has made significant headway on the women’s basketball court in recent years by sponsoring the ACC, launching an NCAA women’s hoops showcase called Ally Tipoff, and partnering with the WNBA’s Aces in March.

The impact: Although Unrivaled has already managed to land impressive power players on its exec board, like chief brand officer Kirby Porter and league commissioner Mickey Lawler, it’s still a startup and will face the usual challenges such as capital raises and brand recognition.

• “As a startup, we need committed sponsors and media to drive fandom and growth, so it’s amazing to have a partner like Ally on board from day one that has such a strong track record of advancing equity and elevating women’s sports,” Stewart said in a Friday press release.

• On Ally’s side, moves like this are expected to foster goodwill among loyal women’s sports fans. The bank’s stock rose about 70% YoY in March, and trust in the brand is reportedly up 70% since 2017. Bank shot.