On a chilly day in early 2024, Alastair Merry and Mary Lou Bunn sought insights from a public librarian in Ottawa, Ontario. They posed questions about the emotional and communal significance of the city, aiming to capture the essence that characters its identity.

Merry and Bunn, the co-founders of the creative firm Flower Shop, were enlisted by the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) to craft nicknames and logos for the league’s six inaugural teams. As they traveled across North America, their goal was to understand the unique characteristics that define each city represented in the league.

Importance of Branding in Sports

The past few years have seen a surge in the establishment of women’s sports leagues, with at least eight launching recently. For these leagues to achieve longevity, solid team branding is essential. This encompasses various elements, including team names, color palettes, and logos. The PWHL aspires to set a benchmark in this regard, one that emerging leagues can look to emulate.

Merry remarked, “It’s not like branding a dishwasher or a tablet. This is somebody’s community. This is somebody’s life, going to watch these games.”

Fan Engagement and Branding Strategy

Successful leagues cultivate dedicated fan bases, essential for driving merchandise sales, promoting team chants, and nurturing long-term fandom. The PWHL, although new, has shown remarkable early success, illustrating a compelling case study in sports brand development.

The league commenced its inaugural season on January 1, 2024, devoid of team nicknames or logos. However, this changed significantly as identities for the teams were unveiled ahead of the second season, marking a pivotal moment for fan engagement.

Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the PWHL’s vice president of brand and marketing, noted that providing fans with identifiable team brands deepens their connection to the league: “These identities really help create this world that allows fans to access it in all the different ways in which they want to fan.”

Impact of Branding on League Growth

The presence of distinct team branding has the potential to transform initial excitement into sustained loyalty. The PWHL experienced notable growth in its second season, achieving:

• A 100% increase in merchandise sales.
• A 68% uplift in social media engagement.
• A 27% rise in average game attendance.

This growth resulted from various factors, including larger venues in Toronto and Montreal, as well as a nine-game neutral site tour that filled NHL arenas. Despite having no major consolidated television deals, the league maintained stable media rights arrangements from its first season.

The Ripple Effect of Strong Branding

Bunn emphasized, “When you set a foundation for a sports team, it creates the subsets that continue to feed into the brand.” This foundational branding leads to the emergence of fan groups, traditional chants, and even mascots over time, creating a rich tapestry of community involvement.

The significance of branding in sports history is well established. Thomas O’Grady, the first creative director of the WNBA, noted, “You’re planting your brand flag when you come up with your new identity, and so you’re doing that for the players, for the team, for the community and for the league.” He further remarked that the PWHL’s branding aligns closely with these principles.

The Future of the PWHL

The PWHL’s financing comes from The Walter Group, owned by billionaire Mark Walter, and is now expanding with the addition of two new teams in Seattle and Vancouver. Both teams are eagerly awaiting their nicknames and logos, which are expected to spark renewed enthusiasm among fans.

Steve O’Rourke, coach of PWHL Seattle, expressed anticipation for the upcoming merchandise: “You’re waiting to get that new jersey, the new hat, the new scarf, all those things that go with it that have the logo.”

As the league prepares for its third season, it will be pivotal to observe how the branding strategies and community engagement evolve alongside fan growth.