Disney has more than doubled its advertising revenue around the WNBA All-Star Game for a second consecutive year while selling out its available inventory earlier than it did in 2025, Disney Advertising VP/Revenue and Yield Management Jacqueline Dobies told SBJ.
Demand closer to the event has driven additional pricing growth, with Disney seeing triple-digit increases in scatter rates compared with prices established during the upfront.
The game has attracted more than 20 advertisers this year, 15 of which are new to the event. Nine of the newcomers already advertise around the WNBA, while six are new to WNBA advertising altogether. This year’s advertiser roster spans 13 new categories, including retail, computer games, automotive, cereal and travel services.
“When brands have to be somewhere, they will pay the price,” Dobies said. “And that willingness to pay those premium prices for WNBA is both I think a reflection of the league’s momentum as well as an accelerator of future growth.”
Disney has also secured more than five new sponsorship collaborations that will appear through activations and social content during All-Star Weekend. Returning brands include Google Pixel, which presents “WNBA Countdown,” and AT&T, the entitlement sponsor of the WNBA All-Star Game.
Coverage will span ESPN, ABC, Disney+ and the ESPN App, beginning with Friday’s Skills Night and continuing with Saturday’s primetime All-Star Game at the United Center. The broadcasts will use more than 20 cameras and include mic’d-up players and live bench interviews. Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe will lead the broadcast team.
ESPN will also present a weekend of programming from Chicago, including “WNBA Countdown,” “Vibe Check,” “Hoop Streams” and “The Wrap-Up,” along with coverage across ESPN.com and social platforms.
The network’s on-site presence will include fan experiences at WNBA Live, the lighting of the Navy Pier Centennial Wheel and a WNBA All-Star drone show. Fans can take photos behind ESPN’s “SportsCenter” desk, visit a dedicated merchandise shop and view a display commemorating 30 years of WNBA coverage on ESPN.
The weekend will also feature the premiere of the ESPN Original docuseries “Life in the W,” which provides behind-the-scenes access to Aces C A’ja Wilson, Lynx F Napheesa Collier and Mercury F DeWanna Bonner.
Women’s sports as premium investments
Dobies noted that brands are increasingly treating the WNBA and women’s sports as premium, long-term investments rather than experimental purchases. Disney is seeing women’s sports included in multiyear agreements, while its expansion of women’s sports programming has created additional inventory for advertisers. That strategy includes ESPN’s Women’s Sports Sundays window, sponsored this year by TJ Maxx.
“It’s not a secondary buy, it’s not a secondary thought,” Dobies said. “It is a premium place that they need to be and clearly are prioritizing.”
Dobies described WNBA All-Star Weekend as a “barometer of the health” of women’s sports.
“It’s not these lightning-in-a-bottle moments only,” Dobies said. “It is a long-term intentional investment from brands, and we really see that culminate in the All-Star game.”
