Sephora teams up with AUSL in latest beauty-related women’s sports sponsorship

The GIST: Today, Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) announced that Sephora will become its exclusive beauty partner and presenting sponsor of its AUSL Championship series, which airs on ESPN this weekend. While Sephora isn’t the first beauty brand to join the women’s game, it’s gaining ground and further cementing its status as the beauty industry’s top dog. Woof.

The details: Sephora is supplying championship weekend fans with photo ops, giveaways, and in-game activations. The beauty retailer plans to extend these offerings through AUSL’s upcoming All-Star Cup, a multi-game tournament in August that will offer a glam suite for AUSL athletes for the cup’s media day.

• Additionally, Sephora is teaming up with select AUSL players for social media content and will incorporate branding into game broadcasts, in-arena signage, and digital marketing campaigns.

The background: The brand first stepped into women’s sports with its Unrivaled partnership, which put the beauty brand front and center in the league’s tunnel walk branding. Days later, Sephora became the first founding partner of the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo, then later linked up with the Golden State Valkyries as the title sponsor of its performance center.

The trend: Sephora is quickly snatching up space in different leagues, but they’re not the only brand turning toward women’s sports. Glossier was the first beauty company to invest in women’s sports in 2020, with brands like Mielle, E.l.f., Shark Beauty, and Fenty following within the past few years.

• Why? While sports remain an underserved market for women fans, companies are catching onto the opportunity in women’s sports — not just to reach women, but to have women athletes promote their products as compelling influencers.

• With marketers turning an eye toward Gen Z, which is spending a record amount with beauty faves like Sephora, aligning with popular athletes and leagues is a win-win. A thing of beauty.