Dive Brief:
- Laguna Beach, California-based Gorjana jewelry has signed Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink as its newest brand ambassador, per a news release.
- As an ambassador, Brink will highlight some of the brand’s pieces, including its new lab-grown diamonds collection.
- Brink is the brand’s second professional athlete ambassador. Tennis star and U.S. Open finalist Jessica Pegula began working with the brand in 2023.
Dive Insight:
Brink was the second overall draft pick this year by the Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association. The former Stanford star was chosen just after Caitlin Clark was made the league’s top pick.
"Cam is an inspiring force to so many girls and women across the country,” Gorjana Reidel, co-founder of Gorjana, said in a statement. “I love that this partnership developed naturally, as Cam was already a customer at our Stanford store while she was in school.”
As professional and collegiate sports continue to grow in popularity, more companies are signing stars to be brand ambassadors. The number of sponsorship deals in women's professional sports has increased by more than 22% year over year, according to SponsorUnited’s data from February.
Athleta in 2023 signed 11 brand ambassadors to join stars Simone Biles and Allyson Felix as part of its Power of She Collective. Biles and Olympic champion swimmer Katie Ledecky — also an Athleta ambassador — were featured in the brand’s first linear TV ad in advance of the Paris Games this summer.
Earlier this year, Brink was one of five WNBA stars signed by Skims for a campaign promoting the brand as the league’s official underwear partner. And Under Armour’s Stephen Curry’s signature footwear is now being promoted through a partnership with University of South Carolina guard MiLaysia Fulwiley.
Iga Świątek and Ben Shelton, young stars on the pro tennis tour, were signed last year to endorsement deals with On Running as it seeks to broaden its appeal in the crowded tennis footwear market.
Deloitte predicted that revenue generated by by women’s elite sports will surpass $1 billion for the first time in 2024. That would be 300% higher than when Deloitte last predicted an amount in 2021.
