Sephora Canada has become a founding and beauty partner of Canada’s first Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team, Toronto Tempo. This is the first partnership of its kind for Sephora in the country.
Under the agreement, the beauty brand’s logo will adorn Tempo jerseys, the court and the walk-in for players when the team begins to play at Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum in 2026. Sephora will also bring its partnership with the team to life through integrated campaigns that will include community programming, retail activations, social media integrations and in-stadium promotion.
“We’re excited to be a part of such a big and pivotal cultural moment where women’s sport will truly be in the spotlight in Canada,” Allison Litzinger, SVP of marketing at Sephora Canada, tells MiC. “When we heard we were going to have a WNBA franchise team in Canada, we jumped on the opportunity to partner and help build the team from the ground up. Women’s basketball, more than other sports, is so innately connected to culture, lifestyle, and beauty.”
Toronto Tempo president Teresa Resch, meanwhile, said both the team and Spehora’s values are aligned. According to Resch, Sephora is one of the most inclusive brands in Canada, which will allow them to work together to elevate women’s sports in the country and create a team that belongs to all of Canada.
Outside of the country, Sephora has signed other sponsorship deals in the sports arena. The LVMH group (Sephora’s owner) signed an agreement in 2023 to sponsor the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with Sephora becoming a partner of the Olympic Torch Relay. As part of that deal, the retailer launched activations for the public along the relay route, as well as at LVMH locations.
The WNBA agreement comes at a time when women’s sports have been on the rise in the country, with several brands joining as sponsors. The Northern Super League, Canada’s professional women’s soccer league – which will kick off in April this year with six clubs representing major Canadian markets – has been closing sponsorship deals with different brands, including Canadian Tire, DoorDash, CIBC, Air Canada, Bell Media and CBC/Radio-Canada. Last year, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) also debuted, with 2.9 million Canadians tuning in to watch the first game.
According to a study by Canadian Women & Sport in collaboration with IMI Consulting, two in three Canadians are supporters of women’s sports, and one-third intend to increase their participation this year. The majority of fans are young, diverse, educated and affluent.
