The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) sought to build buzz and excitement ahead of the new season through a 2024 extension of its umbrella ‘WE PLAY HERE’ marketing platform which encourages fans to ‘Keep Up’.
Objective
Timed to leverage the 16 March kickoff of the 2024 regular season, the call-to-action style campaign seeks to build hype around the new season, drive ticket sales by driving fans to stadiums and boost TV audiences.
Activation
The latest wave of work builds on the 2023 launch of the ‘WE PLAY HERE’ platform as ‘Keep Up’ continues to lean into the one-of-a-kind athleticism, competition, and emotion of professional women’s soccer.
The campaign was developed in harness with creative agency Cartwright and spans TV, digital, social owned and paid channels.
The creative aims to capture the momentum of the league’s 12th year: which sees the NWSL add four new broadcast deals, two new teams and unveil the first-ever stadium built specifically for women’s professional soccer.
The creative features epic storybook motifs and is spearheaded by a hero spot debuting on 13 March and voiced by Kansas City Current midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta: LaBonta and her team will take to the pitch on Saturday for the opening game against Portland Thorns FC at the CPKC Stadium: the first purpose-built stadium for a women’s professional sports team.
The stars return and the story continues.
The 2024 NWSL season kicks off THIS WEEKEND. Keep up. #WePlayHere pic.twitter.com/49RGQoLn6W
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 13, 2024
“The NWSL is unmissable entertainment that now spans across 14 club markets, with more broadcast reach than ever before and some of the top brands in the world as our league partners. We are growing at incredible speed with our dynamic fanbase and expansion – so it only made sense to kickstart the 2024 season with that same energy to run with us.”
NWSL Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Julie Haddon
“Keep Up’ is a bold rallying cry for women’s soccer that we believe captures the spirit and power of the sport,” said Keith Cartwright, CCO at Cartwright. “There is a lot of energy in the new campaign that leverages existing footage and images to bring the dynamic action and hold-your-breath excitement of women’s soccer to life.”
Cartwright Chief Creative Officer Keith Cartwright
This rallying cry of a campaign continues where 2023’s ‘We Play Here’ began: a campaign that also leaned in to the hype around the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The work showcases how women’s football in general and the NWSL league in particular continues to push the female sports movement forward on a global scale.
Indeed, the 2024 season sees the start of a landmark four-year domestic media rights agreements with CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports that will see 121 matches featured on national platforms throughout the season.
Lo’eau LaBonta also appears in her own club’s own 2024 preseason online video series.