RAJ Sports Rewrites the Women's Sports Marketing Playbook With Data

For 85% of her career, the marketing strategy around women's sports was essentially "Here's what the men did. Let's do it for women," said Karina LeBlanc, EVP of strategic growth and development at RAJ Sports, speaking at Treasure AI's Agentic World conference in Miami. RAJ Sports — owner of the WNBA's Portland Thorns and the NWSL's Portland Fire — has now thrown out that playbook, partnering with agentic CDP (customer data platform) and marketing platform Treasure AI to understand its fans on its own terms.

The partnership exists because data without interpretation doesn't sell tickets. RAJ Sports funnels first-party data — ticket and merchandise sales, social media and email engagement — plus leaguewide WNBA and NWSL data into its warehouse. The real challenge, chief commercial officer John Torris told AdExchanger, has been "making sense of the whole pool of fans" across both teams. Treasure AI now helps RAJ build audience segments and decide who to target with which content.

What does the data change for marketers?

The funnel entry point flips. In men's sports, a new fan's first interaction is typically buying a ticket, said Torris. In women's sports, the data shows the entry point is buying merchandise — and by the time fans attend a game, "they feel like they have a connection with the club or the players."

That finding is reshaping RAJ's commerce strategy:

• Last year, RAJ took the Fire's ecommerce and merchandising in-house to control the fan experience directly.
• The Thorns are taking their ecommerce in-house for next season.
• The Fire now develops what Torris calls "expressive" merchandise to cultivate an "intimate relationship" with the team.

The approach has hard proof. At the Fire's "Sneakerheads Night," a T-shirt featuring Nike sneakers designed by the team's players sold out within minutes of the arena opening.

Beyond the merch stand

Merch alone doesn't keep a business afloat, so RAJ runs ads across a blend of social media, email and linear TV to convert fans into loyal viewers and ticket buyers. It can air many commercials through its own local sports network, Rose City SportsNet, which streams all Portland Fire matches and a number of Thorns games. A paid streaming app, Portland Fire+, adds live programming and behind-the-scenes mobile content.

For brands, the partnership math is also shifting as women's sports expand. Partnering with a team acts as a "validator" for brands, particularly emerging ones, Torris said — because sports fans are "loyal to a fault." The catch: the brand has to resonate with the fans' values. Both the Thorns and Fire partner with baby product brand Nuna, running activations like on-field toddler and baby races at halftime.

A different fandom, a different message

Torris draws a sharp line between the audiences. Men's sports fandom centers on wins, losses and athletic performance. Women's sports fans are more enthusiastic about community and the broader game-day experience — though they still want their team to win. If the Fire loses, "we would have a standing ovation with 15,000 plus people cheering them on through the end," said Torris. "Nobody leaves, and I haven't seen that in men's sports."

So RAJ doesn't advertise wins. It advertises the experience: "Come and try it, and we hope you come back," Torris said. And often, they do come back.

LeBlanc, a former professional soccer player, has seen fans go from "chasing" games across inaccessible platforms to asking "What is this energy?" — and wanting more. As women's sports keep expanding and brands keep pursuing WNBA and NWSL partnerships, the marketers who study their own fan data, rather than copying men's sports templates, will be the ones writing the next chapter.