Sephora, WNBA's Golden State Valkyries ink partnership inaugural season
A leading beauty retailer is teaming up with the newest WNBA franchise.
Sephora U.S. and the Golden State Valkyries have entered into a multi-year partnership, making the beauty giant a founding partner of the Valkyries. As part of the deal, Sephora is the naming rights partner for the team’s 31,800-sq.-ft. performance center in Oakland, Calif., which has been rebranded as the “Sephora Performance Center."The retailer will also be the presenting partner for the Valkyries Content Day and Training Camp.
The Golden State Valkyries are the latest franchise to be added to the WNBA – bringing the women’s basketball league to 13 teams. The Valkyries will begin play on May 16, and play their home games at Chase Center in San Francisco while being headquartered in Oakland.
The performance center will feature Sephora-branded elements throughout its spaces, including the three professional-grade basketball courts, locker room, strength and conditioning areas, recovery zones, and a player lounge. Sephora’s branding will also be visible on the team’s practice jerseys.
Sephora-branded elements will also be featured throughout the Chase Center. The in-arena placements will include a Sephora Kiosk, offering a curated selection of beauty product offerings available for purchase. There will also be a branded Sephora Sounds DJ booth, spotlighting the retailer’s music collective, which supports underrepresented, emerging artists.
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“We are thrilled to be a founding partner of the Golden State Valkyries and support a team that is committed to women’s empowerment, self-expression and excellence,” said Zena Arnold, chief marketing officer at Sephora U.S. “Joining forces in our shared Bay Area home underscores the strong alignment between our brands, and we are proud to see Sephora represented in both a physical space and with an organization where confidence and performance thrive. We look forward to celebrating the synergy between sports and beauty and continuing to champion our shared values throughout the Valkyries inaugural season and in the years to come.”
The newly opened Sephora Performance Center was designed to represent the “intersection of elite athletics and premium, confident beauty, creating an environment where performance and presentation co-exist,” according to the retailer.
Sephora joins a growing list of Valkyries founding partners, including CarMax, JPMorgan Chase and Kaiser Permanente.
"Partnering with Sephora is a natural fit for the Valkyries," said Golden State Valkyries president Jess Smith. "They are not just a beauty leader, but a company with deep Bay Area roots like us. Having Sephora’s support as a founding partner is a significant milestone for women's sports and the Valkyries.”
Sephora operates more than 3,200 stores and flagships in 35 markets globally.
