Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will face Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky in primetime to tip off the inaugural WNBA Rivals Week in August.
Other games will include two between New York and Minnesota in a WNBA Finals rematch; a matchup of Paige Bueckers and Dallas against Clark’s Fever; and Atlanta’s Brittney Griner facing her old Phoenix Mercury squad.
The week will be sponsored by Ally Financial, the newest partner for the league this season.
“You can have a great partnership, but you also have to have great activation,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a Zoom interview. “There’s going to be a full slate of games that week and that’s going to be a cool part of the activation.”
Games over the rivalry week will be broadcast on a variety of networks, including the primetime game between the Fever and Sky on CBS on Aug. 9 to begin it. The NBA has had a Rivals Week for three years now.
Engelbert has mentioned in the past how important rivalries can be to grow the sport. The league started the Commissioner’s Cup in 2021 and that in-season tournament has helped spawn rivalries between New York and Las Vegas as well as the Liberty and Lynx over the past few seasons.
“What Cathy and her team have done with the league, the cultural currency of the players, the media connectivity, the entire ecosystem, is just phenomenal,” Ally Financial Chief Marketing Officer Andrea Brimmer said. “To me it’s kind of the crown jewel of what’s happening in the women’s sports space.”
This isn’t Ally’s first foray into women’s basketball. They were one of the inaugural partners with the 3-on-3 league Unrivaled that finished its first season last month. The conversations with the WNBA started years before Unrivaled came into existence.
“This very intentional focus on women’s sports has been something that have been not only words, but deeds behind it,” Brimmer said. “The ability to come on as the new sponsor of the WNBA for us is adding another jewel to the family.”
Ally also signed Bueckers, the projected No. 1 pick, to an endorsement deal. The company already has deals with WNBA players Breanna Stewart and Sydney Colson.
“Partnering with Ally is about more than just banking – it’s about people to make their money work smarter,” Bueckers said. “As an athlete, I’ve learned that success isn’t just about the game you play, but the opportunity and resources you get access to.”
Brimmer said that Bueckers isn’t just a brand ambassador, she’s also an online customer.
“She uses the product and she’s got a lot of passion around financial education and financial literacy,” Brimmer said.
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