Ladies’s sports activities are not a distinct segment, they’re a cultural motion. With record-breaking viewership, player-led media moments, and large model investments, the house is remodeling quickly. 

On the heart of that shift? The National Women’s Soccer League. 

On this episode of The Velocity of Tradition, Matt Britton sits down with Julie Haddon, former chief advertising and marketing and business officer on the Nationwide Ladies’s Soccer League, to discover the game’s explosive development. 

They focus on athlete-led storytelling, breakthrough model partnerships, and the way the NWSL is altering the sport for girls’s sports activities. (Observe: This episode was recorded previous to Julie’s departure from the league in July.)

NWSL and theSkimm pitch more women

With expertise spanning the NFL, Twitter, DreamWorks Animation, and Zynga, Julie brings a novel mix of storytelling, innovation, and strategic brand-building to the NWSL. She oversaw sponsorships, content material, model, and fan engagement, and spearheaded the league’s mission to develop fandom and income whereas spotlighting the athletes at its core.

Hearken to Julie Haddon on The Velocity of Tradition podcast to uncover how the NWSL is redefining girls’s sports activities by means of creativity, group, and culture-forward model technique.

Key takeaways:

[03:15] Tradition x Competitors: Why Followers Watch the NWSL — Julie describes how the NWSL merges high-level competition with cultural relevance. With gamers who’re additionally creators, activists, and influencers, the league is a gateway for followers who care as a lot about persona as efficiency. For manufacturers, tapping into this duality means connecting with audiences on and off the sector.

[06:24] Cultural Relevance Means Extra Than Sports activities Content material — Julie highlights the NWSL’s inventive method to social content material, equivalent to aligning participant kits with Met Gala style moments. With tentpole launches and editorial storytelling, the league inserts itself into broader conversations, making its content material extra discoverable and emotionally resonant. Manufacturers can study to activate past conventional moments.