2025 WNBA Draft W Train

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

The 2025 WNBA Draft W Train transformed draft night into a cultural moment spotlighting the league’s next generation of stars. Inside a customized subway-inspired set, newly drafted players stepped aboard the “W Train” bound for their new city and received surprise video messages from mentors, teammates, and icons welcoming them to the league. The activation produced emotional, highly engaging content that introduced fans to the newest class of WNBA players across league, team, and athlete social platforms.

How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?

The W Train helped set a new benchmark for how women’s sports events can celebrate athletes while driving fan engagement online. Instead of relying only on traditional podium photos or broadcast coverage, the activation was designed to highlight every player’s arrival into the league in a way that felt elevated and shareable. Through combining set design with real-time social content, the experience gave each draftee a moment that felt personal while also creating content that could easily travel across social platforms.

More importantly, the W Train showed how leagues can intentionally design events with digital storytelling in mind from the start. By focusing on athlete emotion, fashion, and personality, alongside their new team identity, the activation helped turn draft night into a cultural moment that fans wanted to engage with! The W Train provides a replicable model for future league events that aim to elevate athletes, amplify their stories, and convert milestone moments into lasting fandom.

Objective

As the WNBA continues its historic growth, the league sought new ways to elevate the draft beyond a traditional announcement event. The goal was to create a moment that introduced incoming players to fans while reinforcing the excitement surrounding the league’s future.

Fresh Tape Media partnered with the WNBA to design an experience that welcomed every first- and second-round draftee into the league with a red-carpet-style moment, positioning them as the stars they are as soon as their name was called. 

The activation was built around three priorities:

• Highlight each athlete’s individual personality and style
• Build a visually iconic set that the athletes were excited to step onto
• Customize the experience in real-time to reflect each athlete’s new team
• Capture authentic reactions to a range of celebratory moments that felt personal and unforgettable

The W Train ultimately served as both a physical activation and a storytelling platform, welcoming athletes to the league while generating social content that drove visibility and fandom for the newest W players!

Strategy & Execution

The W Train was designed with digitally native audiences in mind, particularly Gen Z fans who engage with athletes across social platforms even more than broadcasts. Because of this, the activation itself was made- for-social including:

• Vertical framing optimized for Reels and TikTok
• Lighting and set design tailored for both short-form video and portrait capture
• Surprise video messages designed to evoke authentic reactions
• Real-time editing and distribution across league, team, and athlete social channels so the content was timely

Fans watching the Draft could immediately engage with content on their phones, creating a dual-screen experience that expanded reach beyond the broadcast.

Organizations

• • Fresh Tape Media 
  • WNBA

Links

•   Website

Featured

• • Paige Bueckers 
  • Dominique Malonga 
  • Sonia Citron
  • Kiki Iriafen
  • Justė Jocytė
  • Georgia Amoore 
  • Aneesah Morrow 
  • Saniya Rivers 
  • Sarah Ashlee Barker 
  • Ajsa Sivka
  • Hailey Van Lith
  • JJ Quinerly

Credits

Ashley Simmons
Content Strategist
WNBA

Avalon Koenig
Producer
Fresh Tape Media

Audrey Alex
Production Designer
Fresh Tape Media

Katie Nehring
Graphic Designer
Fresh Tape Media

Réal Gill
Gaffer
Fresh Tape Media (Contractor)

Sokhna Samb
Production Assistant
Fresh Tape Media (Contractor)

Brandon Todd
Portrait Photographer
Fresh Tape Media (Contractor)

Guthrie Belfiglio
Real-Time Editor
Fresh Tape Media (Contractor)

Henry French
Audio Technician
Fresh Tape Media (Contractor)

Jennifer Desrosiers
Director of Photography
Fresh Tape Media (Contractor)

James McKenzie
1st AC
Fresh Tape Media (Contractor)

Mykiah Wiggins
Grip
Fresh Tape Media (Contractor)

Alana Moritz
Creative Director
Fresh Tape Media