The WNBA announced a multiyear agreement with Google on Monday to become one of the league's Changemakers.
That includes becoming presenting a sponsor of the WNBA on ESPN and collaborating on "25 for 25," which is 25 regular-season ABC/ESPN nationally televised games in celebration of the WNBA's 25th season. Additionally, Google will be an associate sponsor of upcoming ESPN Films projects, including the 30 for 30 franchise.
Google also will be a presenting partner of the WNBA playoffs and an associate partner of the WNBA All-Star Game on ESPN and the in-season Commissioner's Cup competition.
"We are proud to partner with the WNBA and ESPN over the coming years to continue the charge and deliver on our commitment to gender equity and the future of women," Google chief marketing officer Lorraine Twohill said. "It's important to us that our product experiences are equitable for all genders, and we want to make sure our media spend is equitable too, bringing more women's content to television."
As an espnW Summit NYC sponsor, Google will highlight conversation around the ESPN Film "144," which focuses on the 2020 WNBA season in the bubble in Bradenton, Florida. Google also will be presenting a montage of the week's best women's sports highlights on SportsCenter beginning this month.
"ESPN has led the industry in its long-standing commitment to women's sports across our programming and platforms, including as a founding telecaster of WNBA games and events 25 years ago and serving fans for over a decade through espnW," said Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN and Sports Content. "This new collaboration with the league and Google further extends our mission and dedication to elevating women's sports, adding to the more than 16,000 hours of live sports programming we produce each year."
Google joins AT&T, Deloitte and Nike as companies that are designated as WNBA Changemakers, which provide support to the league in its efforts in marketing, branding and player and fan experience.
"When we launched our WNBA Changemakers platform at the beginning of 2020, we issued a call to like-minded companies to join us in elevating women's sports, and Google has answered that call," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. "Google's support will be instrumental in driving our business transformation forward and demonstrates a commitment to the values we both stand for -- including building sustainable equity."