Discount Tire, Continental partner with WNBA

NEW YORK — The WNBA has signed multi-year promotional partnerships with tire retailer Discount Tire/America's Tire and Continental Tire the Americas, naming them the league's official tire retailer and tire brand, respectively.

"This collaboration (with Discount Tire and Continental) represents an exciting opportunity to join forces with a brand that shares our commitment to excellence and empowering communities," Colie Edison, chief growth officer, WNBA, said. "Together, we will drive the game forward, while promoting inclusivity, safety and innovation."

Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Discount Tire and Continental Tire will collaborate with the WNBA on promotional efforts, the WNBA said. The companies will receive media exposure across a variety of platforms, including TV visual signage and on-court virtual signage during WNBA national broadcasts, as well through the league's official social and digital sites.

"We are proud to partner with the WNBA, a dynamic collaboration that celebrates strength, perseverance and the power of teamwork," Dean Muglia, chief executive officer of Discount Tire, said.

"Just as the WNBA continues to amaze basketball fans, Discount Tire strives to amaze our customers by empowering them with the right tire choices based on vehicle, driving preferences and geographic location to make buying tires more inviting, easy and safe. We are excited to support the WNBA and their passionate fan base."

Discount Tire operates retail stores in nine WNBA team's markets and offers online tires and wheels sales to all U.S. consumers.

"We are excited to partner with Discount Tire as a sponsor of the WNBA," Travis Roffler, director of marketing, Continental Tire the Americas, said.

"We've been a longtime supporter of college basketball so we're pleased to add the WNBA to our partnership portfolio as well. We're thrilled to align with Discount Tire and the WNBA, as three brands that exemplify top performance."

Now in its 27th season, the WNBA describes itself as a "unique sports property" that combines competition and entertainment with a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and social responsibility.

The league has a dozen teams. The current season started May 19 and runs through Sept. 10, followed by the playoffs. WNBA games are broadcast on a number of platforms, including ESPN, ABC, ION and CBS Sports, as well as on Facebook, Amazon Prime and Twitter.

Viewership of the WNBA across the various platforms was up 16% last year over 2021, the league said, averaging 379,000 viewers.

For Discount Tire, the partnership complements other sports promotional efforts that include sponsorship of Penske Performance Inc.'s NASCAR and IndyCar teams and the Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational.

Continental Tire also is active in sports sponsorships. Among its partnerships are: Major League Soccer; NCAA basketball; and Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) with the General brand.