WNBA star Angel Reese makes cover of Sports Illustrated and Reese’s Puffs boxes nationwide

WNBA All-Star and Randallstown native Angel Reese is making headlines in magazines and on cereal boxes.  Reese landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Power List, which highlights the 50 most influential figures in all of sports. The second annual list published Wednesday spotlights athletes, icons and leaders, executives and influencers. The athletes category features a few from the WNBA, including Reese, fellow rookie Caitlin Clark and league Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson.

The Chicago Sky rookie is also gearing up for a collaboration with Reese’s Puffs as the new face of limited-edition “Angel X Reese’s Puffs” cereal boxes, available by the end of October. The partnership includes four back-of-box designs, followed by an “exciting collaboration later this year that continues to blend her creativity and passions for basketball and fashion,” General Mills said in a news release.

“I’m so excited to partner with such an iconic brand. Not only does this fulfill my childhood dream of being on a cereal box, but there couldn’t be a better fit for me to join forces with than REESE’S PUFFS cereal,” Reese said in a news release. “This collaboration is such an honor, and I can’t wait for fans to get their hands on the cereal box and see what’s next in this partnership.”

Reese, 22, reportedly has endorsement deals worth several million, making more in endorsements than most WNBA players, according to Sarah Zipp, director of sports management at Mount St. Mary’s University.  Reese, along with other members of the WNBA’s rookie class, has helped bring the WNBA to new heights while landing bigger endorsement deals.

“We are seeing a trend of bigger endorsement deals for WNBA players and increased viewership for WNBA games,” Zipp said. “Those go hand in hand because greater visibility for players makes them more marketable for brands.”  Several factors contribute to the growth of the increased deals for WNBA players. Mainly, players like Reese and Clark were able to build their brand strategies before going professional because of the NCAA allowing name, image and likeness deals in college.

Reese was one of the biggest stars during her college years at LSU and she benefitted from NIL deals to the tune of nearly $2 million, Zipp said. Her success continued into the WNBA.  Clark is perhaps the most popular player in the WNBA, building on her record-shattering college career, according to Zipp. She has a $28 million deal with Nike and has contracts with other major brands like Gatorade, Wilson and State Farm, Zipp said.

“Of course, they are both extraordinarily successful athletes, and their personas have further increased their fame and marketability,” Zipp said. “Many of these deals are rooted in her NIL days from college and she is breaking new ground for endorsements in the WNBA.”  There has been a feedback loop between sponsorship, viewership and media coverage, Zipp said. The longstanding argument has been that there isn’t a big fan base for women’s basketball, but according to Zipp, a lack of media coverage, funding and resources has been holding the sport back.

“If you can increase viewership, you can increase sponsorship funding. But if there is little media coverage, it’s difficult to build up viewership,” Zipp said. “NIL deals helped break that loop open so that players could go around media gatekeepers to build their fan base via social media and other marketing outlets. The popularity of players like Reese and Clark on the court and in the sport marketplace shows that there is a strong and loyal fan base.”  Based on this trend in women’s basketball and other examples such as Simone Biles, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Katie Ledecky, opportunities might continue to grow for women in sports in the U.S. and around the globe, Zipp said.