Michaela Onyenwere and Sami Whitcomb added the colors of new sponsors to their respective seafoam repitoires.
The Barclays Center hardwood won’t be the only place to find your favorite New York Liberty stars this summer.
The WNBA’s bearers of seafoam continued to extend their reach beyond Brooklyn this week, as Liberty representatives unveiled new sponsorship and endorsement opportunities: reigning Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere has latched on with Cheribundi (best known for its tart cherry juice products) while veteran Sami Whitcomb became the latest member of Adidas’ expanding basketball family.
Latching onto Cheribundi was a natural fit for Onyenwere, as it played a role in recovery from the Cori Close-supervised practices at UCLA.
“It was just something that we used as a resource to help inflammation, help us sleep,” Onyenwere said earlier last week, hours after she posted news of the union on her Instagram account. “They kind of reached out to my agent and I kind of saw the vision that they wanted for me and I saw the other athletes that they wanted to initiate their vision with as well.I was really excited that I was able to get that opportunity.”
Other athletes aligned with Cheribundi include Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman and long-tenured NFL brothers Devin and Jason McCourty.
New York’s arsenal of advertising further features fellow sophomore standout DiDi Richards, whose television commercials for Quest Nutrition’s peanut butter cups have resurfaced during the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and ongoing NBA postseason and Sabrina Ionescu, whose young career has been sponsored in part by Nike and BodyArmor, the latter being a sports drink based in Queens and developed by The Coca-Cola Company. Like Onyenwere, Richards was a partaker in her product before the cameras started rolling, as she mentioned that Quest bars appeared in her draft hub at home during the 2021 selection proceedings.
Speaking with reporters as the Liberty continue to engage in their training camp activities, Onyenwere, Richards, and Whitcomb each took time to reflect on the changing game of marketing in women’s sports. Each of them has become a natural fit to foster the WNBA’s growing brand: Onyenwere and Richards repped New York on the Association’s All-Rookie team while Whitcomb ranked second in successful three-pointers last season.
“I think marketing for women’s basketball is so important,” Onyenwere said. “Obviously, the on-court stuff is super important as well. But half of what we do is really, really geared to the marketing piece.I think that’s so important for us to be able to get our names out ther, kind of (create) how people see the value of women’s basketball past the court, and it really, really benefits us. I’m really grateful to be able to have those opportunities.”
“It can set us apart and it’s drawing fans to us from different angles,” Richards concurred. “I’m trying to be I’m trying to capitalize on every mark, I know that I can off the court.”
Though Richards made a relatively unsung arrival into New York thanks to her selection in the second round, her inspiring comeback from a nearly-paralyzing injury at Baylor and energy on and off the hardwood have made her one of the most cherished faces of the developing Liberty. She was part of the Liberty contingent that repped the team at this month’s WNBA Draft proceedings in Tribeca, making up for lost time when her own selection was forced into a remote setting thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Richards’ advertisement, which co-stars a life-size peanut butter cup, was called “the greatest commercial” by Whitcomb, who is no stranger to the relative showbiz: she and her infant son Nash showcased Australia-based basketball gear headquarters Hoops Heaven during her time with the Perth Lynx before she unveiled the Adidas union.
Though Whitcomb, the Liberty’s longest-tenured veteran, believes there’s work to be done on the WNBA’s path to a paradigm shift in American sports, she appeared to be greatly encouraged by these latest developments, which comes shortly after the aforementioned draft averaged 403,000 viewers on ESPN2, the best numbers since 2004.
“The visibility and investment I think for us and in us is really critical, no matter what kind of level,” Whitcomb said, referring to Hoops Heaven’s investment as “amazing”. “I think any of those opportunities, where someone wants to partner with you and it’s something that you actually enjoy, that’s really cool.”
The Liberty will take to the Barclays Center floor for a preseason game on Saturday afternoon against the Connecticut Sun.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
