The campaign comes from agency Cartwright.

The NWSL is back, and it wants fans to know it.

Ahead of this weekend’s season kickoff, the National Women’s Soccer League unveiled the latest iteration of its “We Play Here” sports marketing campaign with the new 60-second spot,“Keep Up.”

From agency Cartwright, “Keep Up” debuts today on paid TV, digital and social properties, the league’s new direct-to-consumer property and inside club stadiums once play begins.

“Run with us. We control the pace. From kickoff to equalizers, the 90th minute, PK after PK. The next generation begins here. World champions play here, so run with us,” says Kansas City Current midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta in a voiceover. “We’re only getting bigger. All you have to do is keep up.”

“It captures so much of the magic and the storytelling of this league, and the players and the athletes that got us to where we are,” Julie Haddon, chief marketing and commercial officer of the NWSL, told ADWEEK. “It’s a whole play on stories.”

The spot utilizes storybook motifs that highlight stars and major moments across the league and its 14 teams.

“We stitched all these moments from last season to tell this bigger story of the league, reminding people that some of the greatest in the world play in this league,” Mariya Munsey, senior art director at Cartwright, told ADWEEK. “As we were concepting and coming up with this idea for kickoff, we just wanted to match the energy that the league brings and its fans bring. We felt like ‘Keep Up’ rises to that energy and invites current and future fans to do the same.”

The creative builds on 2023’s inaugural marketing campaign that launched ahead of the last World Cup, emphasizing that the best players in the world play right here in the U.S.

“From a production quality, we wanted to uplevel the work and the creative,” Haddon said. “When I think about the trailblazing momentum of our league and the quality of the commercial work that our partners are beginning to flood the market with, the whole concept is ‘Keep Up.’ Our message in ’24 is meant to encapsulate the trajectory and the growth of our audiences, partnerships, league, and invite current and future fans in and hop on this wave that is women’s soccer in America.”

Play begins Friday with the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup, and the regular season begins Saturday as Kansas City hosts the Portland Thorns in the first match at CPKC Stadium—the first purpose-built stadium for a women’s professional sports team.

The 2024 season is the first in a new, record-breaking four-year TV rights deal with CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports. The partners will combine to nationally broadcast 118 matches across partner platforms, worth $60 million per year, for a cumulative value of $240 million over the course of the deal.

“Not just are we trying to raise the game and the awareness, build the brand, but as we grow and engage fans in these new media partners and the new landscape, we want everybody to be able to find the games, and findability is a key focus of ours,” said Haddon.

The league saw record attendance and viewership in 2023 and is adding two new teams in 2024, with two more planned by 2026. According to Haddon, the NWSL has grown almost 98% in sponsorship.

“We have raised the game in almost every brand metric we have,” Haddon said.

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