“We still need to see more equality from bad brands across the board, like commitment to equal spend on women athlete partnerships,” said Andrea Fairchild, Visa’s svp of global sponsorship strategy. “It’s not something that’s like in fashion or on trend. It is about making sure that we as brand stewards are closing that gap on and off the field.”
In trying to foster an environment in which women and men in athletics thrive equally, Visa’s equity efforts have spread to its other sports sponsorships.
At this year’s Super Bowl, the company unveiled a partnership with Formula 1’s Red Bull Racing that makes it a major player in the women-driven F1 Academy. Plus, Visa used its NFL sponsorship to support the league’s girls’ and women’s flag football programs, which pushed the sport into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and the company heads into the upcoming Paris Olympics and Paralympics with more than half of Team Visa’s 140+ sponsored athletes being women—the first time that’s happened for the company, which has been an Olympic sponsor since 1986.
Recently named a sponsor of the NWSL’s Bay FC expansion team, Visa also sees an opportunity to reach engaged women’s sports audiences in the backyard of its San Francisco headquarters and make an impact with local organizations and fans.
“You just have to keep building,” Fairchild said. “You’ve now got the data to back up the spend. The more momentum that is happening, the easier it is to ensure that those equality numbers are starting to balance themselves out.”
Joining the flock
After Aflac leaders witnessed Auburn freshman Kharyssa Richardson suffer a head injury at the Las Vegas Invitational in 2022, lying on the floor for 45 minutes waiting for paramedics, the company decided to step up.
In 2023, Aflac shifted its spending from the men’s Final Four to the women’s Final Four and teamed with South Carolina coach and Aflac pitchwoman Dawn Staley and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) to address Dawn’s List of inequities in women’s sports.
Among its activations and promotions, the company sponsored the Oui-Play matchup in Paris between South Carolina and Notre Dame, ran spots on ESPN featuring Staley and former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski throughout the college season, and partnered with women’s sports bar The Sports Bra and media and commerce company Togethxr to throw a series of March Madness watch parties.
