WNBPA president Ogwumike announces Aflac commitment to All-Star weekend
By Christan Braswell
The stakes are raised ever so slightly heading into Friday’s kickoff of WNBA All-Star weekend. WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike announced on X/Twitter that Aflac is adding $55,000 to the payouts for winners of the Skills Challenge and Three-Point Contest.
Currently, winners of these competitions are awarded $2,575 apiece and participants receive $1,030. This considerable bump highlights the opportunity for investment in women’s sports and the limitless avenues to make it happen. Corporations have to be willing to commit.
Aflac, a leading provider of health supplemental insurance, is no stranger to this. Back in 2022, Aflac partnered with University of South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley to enhance the experience of the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Championship for players and fans alike.
They planned to do this by directing a larger portion of its on-site activation and advertising budget to predominantly focus on women’s basketball.
Earlier this year, they extended their partnership with Staley. In collaboration with the insurance giant, the WCBA and the three-time national champion coach created “Dawn’s List”, a campaign to address longstanding equity issues in women’s college basketball.
Staley responded to Ogwumike’s post announcing the agreement:
If you build it, they will come they say. But this isn’t the case. The chance to invest in women’s sports has always been there. The dollars are finally starting to catch up behind the words.
Check out our previous Seattle Storm articles here.
Check out our previous articles with photos by Rio Giancarlo, and his portfolio here.
Check out our previous articles written by Christan Braswell here, and follow Christan on Twitter.
Support the work of Circling Seattle Sports by checking out our merchandise!