Intimate apparel brand Bravado Designs has partnered with the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) to become the league’s official bra partner.

As part of the deal, Bravado will have a prominent presence in the arena during league games. Fans in Canada will have the opportunity to interact with the brand through pop-ups and activations. Also, Bravado will partner with players to launch digital content highlighting the partnership.

Nicole McCasey, president of Bravado Designs, tells MiC the sponsorship ties in with the brand’s repositioning. Since last year, the company has been offering more than just maternity and nursing bras with a new line called Everyday that includes accessories, loungewear, and swimwear. The partnership with the league will allow the brand to amplify that positioning, while broadening its reach to new audiences beyond pregnant and lactating women, “a limited, and time-bound demographic,” according to McCasey.

“We knew that given the competitive and challenging market conditions, being a niche brand primarily known for maternity and nursing, our growth potential had a ceiling and we needed to think bigger,” she says. “As we started to explore ways of tapping into new audiences, we were living, in real-time, the excitement of the PWHL’s first season. It was clear the league had an incredible, highly engaged fan base, as well as strong, passionate, empowered women who play the game… To us, it was a natural partnership that we had to make happen.”

McCasey adds that this is new territory for Bravado. While the brand has a network of community and wholesale partnerships, it has nothing of the PWHL’s magnitude or scale.

The PWHL also recently announced that GoodLife Fitness will be the official fitness club of the league’s two Ontario-based teams, the Toronto Sceptres and Ottawa Charge, as well as the official training partner of the Ottawa Charge team. The multi-year agreement begins in the 2024-25 season and aims to drive fan engagement and growth in digital, in-stadium and in-gym spaces.

As the official training partner of the Ottawa Charge, GoodLife has opened a new training centre at its GoodLife Fitness club at Ottawa Lansdowne Park. The partners also plan to create more opportunities for fans to interact with the teams and learn about the players. It will roll out social media content, contests and prizes during games in Ontario, as well as digital campaigns, OOH advertising, and signage at Toronto Sceptres and Ottawa Charge games.

The partnerships with Bravado and GoodLife come after the PWHL signed a multi-year agreement with Intact Financial Corporation, a provider of property and casualty insurance in Canada. Intact will be the official home and auto insurance partner of the league and will support its Canadian teams during the second season.