For Ally, the name is the idea. We believe in being a better bank: one that improves the financial mobility of the people it serves via better products, better rates, better education and better policies. We’re America’s financial ally, period.

By 2022, we’d established several sponsorships within the world of sports. One of the most significant partnerships was with the NWSL. For the marketing team at Ally, many of whom were former athletes, this was more than just business strategy. They believed passionately in the power of sport to empower young girls and women; in fact, 94% of female C-Suite are former athletes. For the Ally team, this was both a personal investment and a business one.

With the 50th anniversary of Title IX approaching, we wanted to use our NWSL sponsorship to mark the occasion, generate attention for our work, and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the league.

To drive systemic change, we needed to put our money where our mouth is through a powerful brand act: the 50/50 Pledge.

We were the first brand ever to make a 5-year commitment to equal spend across men’s and women’s sports media. In doing so, we upended traditional media practices to bring greater visibility and investment to women athletes.

We built an ecosystem around the Pledge, from consumer-facing films to pioneering partnerships with media platforms. This included a multi-million dollar deal with Disney focused on amplifying women’s sports and a collaboration with CBS to bring the 2022 NWSL Championship to primetime for the first time ever.

We recruited a group of female athletes, Team Ally, to act as ambassadors and advisors to our mission. Finally, we created The Women’s Sports Club, a collective which aims to get other brands and media platforms to increase investment in women’s sports.

It’s no secret that women athletes need a financial ally. They’re grossly underpaid compared to their male counterparts: in 2021, MLS players averaged $400K/year vs $31K or less for NWSL players. But low pay is just a symptom of a bigger problem: systemic media inequity.

According to a 2021 study, less than 10% of total sports coverage is dedicated to women’s sports.

That’s shocking—particularly given the fandom and following surrounding women’s sports. But a breakthrough moment was when we recognized that this lack of coverage creates a vicious cycle with major financial consequences for women athletes. Broadcasters won’t provide coverage due to a lack of advertising dollars, but brands won’t commit those dollars due to poor coverage. This translates into poor timeslots for games, decreased viewership, fewer sponsorship deals, and lower pay for women athletes.

Our mission was clear: break the vicious cycle and change the game—for good.

In just two years, we’ve increased our women’s sports media spend by almost 400%. Our fight to move the NWSL Championship to primetime resulted in +71% viewership and was recognized by FastCompany as a “World Changing Idea.”

40% more consumers were likely to open an Ally account after watching our film, likeability increased 25% among women’s sports fans, and we’ve seen our biggest brand value increase since 2020 (+34% points vs category average brand growth).

Above all, we’ve architected a movement, setting a cultural shift in motion. Women’s sports sponsorship deals are up 22% YoY. With our support, the NWSL recently signed a historic media deal 40x larger than their previous contract. Women’s sports coverage is increasing across channels and viewership is skyrocketing. Deloitte predicts that women’s sports revenue will hit $1.3B in 2024 (+300% vs 2021).

Our work is just beginning, but we’re already changing the game for good.