Brands Tap Into USWNT Players for Creator Marketing

As the U.S. Women’s National Team navigates an attempt to win its third World Cup title in a row, audiences worldwide will be glued to screens — and not just TVs. Even before kickoff, brands have been taking note of the rising popularity of female sports and have tapped into creator social marketing with multiple members of the women’s U.S. national team.

According to an analysis from CreatorIQ, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe are two of the team members who have generated notable earned media value (EMV) for brands in the first half of 2023. Looking at five of the brands that Morgan has partnered with (San Diego Wave FC, HBO Max, Nike, Orgain, Peacock), she’s generated an EMV of nearly $2.4 million in the first half of 2023, while Rapinoe has generated an EMV of $367.2 across three brands (Lego, Nike, Uninterrupted). Nike is also leveraging creator marketing with other team members including Sophia Smith, Rose Lavelle and Lynn Williams.

One of Morgan’s top social posts with Nike from June generated an EMV of $123.8k, with  post-level engagement rate of 3.4%, which CreatorIQ considered above average compared to other influencers of a similar sized following.

CreatorIQ also examined Instagram audience growth for a few of the team members. 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson (the first teenager to make the U.S. women’s roster since 1995) stands out with an explosive 140.5% increase in Instagram followers since February 2023. Naomi Girma has grown her Instagram audience by 73%, while Sophia Smith has seen a 33% increase and Trinity Rodman has increased her followers by 19.2% since February. All of them have partnered with brands for various social promotions.