2024: The Year of the Liberty
The 7th Annual Awards
- Best Integrated Campaign
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
In a year of surging interest in women’s sports, the New York Liberty were confronted with one question: How to stand out from the pack to drive business growth and cement the Liberty as the forefront leader – not just of the WNBA but of the entertainment industry at large? Their answer: rewrite the playbook.
From season tip-off to final buzzer, the Liberty deployed a relentless integrated campaign, leveraging earned media, owned media, thought leadership, and in-person activations to reach new fans, drive unprecedented growth, and firmly establish the franchise as a premiere entertainment brand. After a wildly successful campaign - and historic championship win - the organization heads into 2025 with the wind at their back, ready to defend their championship title, further expand their fanbase, and become the league’s most valuable team.
How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?
By recognizing that game and business success starts with fans, the organization prioritized their fanbase and the fan experience, both in arena and out, in ways never seen before in professional sports. This approach dramatically changed what was expected for a professional sports team – games became more than a competitive match up - they became a holistic entertainment experience that anyone could enjoy.
Beyond making the team more accessible by way of direct to consumer products, the Liberty leaned into culture building and became a brand fans could recognize and wanted to be a part of. Whether it be a family obsessed with Ellie the Elephant, or a hip-hop enthusiast entertained by the team’s halftime performances – the team became a diverse entertainment product for a burgeoning fanbase.
The Liberty also showed that fan engagement doesn’t stop at the arena door. By prioritizing digital engagement, the Liberty met fans on their turf. In taking advantage of the Olympic Break through the team’s Summerpalooza, the organization showed that some of the best fan cultivation can happen in a team’s downtime.
The Liberty revolutionized the sports experience for an increasingly diverse market, building a formidable fanbase for years to come.
Objective
The Liberty entered the 2024 season in the final year of an aggressive 5-year growth strategy with a clear intention to lead from the front, grow the fanbase, and drive historic business growth. Their goals as a brand were as big as their aspirations on the court: to sustainably grow their fanbase, establish the team as a premier entertainment destination that not only separated from its WNBA competitors, but also stood out in the crowded New York market. Ultimately, the Liberty accomplished their goals and used the momentum to bring home a championship trophy.
During their historic season, the Liberty firmly established the franchise as a fortified leader in the WNBA and sports and entertainment industry broadly – giving a new voice to the organization already on an upward swing. Specifically, the Liberty would need to compete for and retain new fans in New York City, attract new partners, stand-out in the world’s most competitive media market, and present a sustainable business model to fortify their status for the long term. With success, the Liberty would cultivate an unrivaled and devoted fan base to stand atop the WNBA and position themselves for their march toward becoming the league’s most valuable franchise.
Strategy & Execution
The Liberty understood that they needed to redefine what’s possible for a professional sports team to increase their appeal. To understand fans, the team commissioned a fan segmentation study, and crafted a campaign anchored to the organization’s foundational three pillars: court, community and culture.
To increase access to the action on the court, the Liberty inked a historic deal with premier city network, WNYW FOX 5, and launched ‘Liberty Live,’ a direct-to-consumer streaming platform. On the Liberty’s app, the team curated player-first content to bring the modern fan closer to their favorite players.
To build community, the Liberty looked to their own backyard. Theme nights curated to reflect the diversity of Brooklyn became staples. The team intuitively took advantage of the Olympic break by hosting Summerpalooza – a series of community events, which included basketball clinics for over 1,300 young girls.
Leaning into culture, the Liberty enlisted New York-born performers for halftime performances, tapped New York’s Alicia Keys to voice a championship video, pursued trend-setting collaborations with brands like Off White and Bumble, and morphed the team’s breakout star, Ellie the Elephant, into a pop culture icon and brand ambassador gracing magazine covers, red carpets and the pages of Vogue.
Organizations
- The New York Liberty
Featured
- New York Liberty Team
- Ellie the Elephant (Team Mascot)
Credits
Shana Stephenson
Chief Brand Officer
The New York Liberty
Sheerin Salimi
Vice President, Communications
BSE Global
Rachael Lewis
Senior Director, Communications
BSE Global
Bryan Flannery
Public Relations Manager
The New York Liberty
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 7th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 24, 2025 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
