WNBA loses Discover sponsorship

Remember that awesome Kiara Nowlin WNBA Discover Card commercial that also featured Tamika Catchings? Well, Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal is reporting that the financial services company did not renew its sponsorship deal with the WNBA. It is one of the league’s biggest sponsors and a three-year agreement expired this spring.

“Financial services is a tough sector right now,” said WNBA President Donna Orender according to the Street & Smith article. “I would preclude that we could be partners again in the future.”

Given the current economic climate and a recent spate of WNBA internal budget cuts, losing a sponsor is not a huge surprise. Other big sponsors include Nike and 1-800 Flowers–both renewed their partnerships. In brighter news, the league added Hewlett-Packard and Starwood Hotels to its sponsors this year. A full list of WNBA marketing and promotional partners is on the WNBA web site at: http://www.wnba.com/news/sponsors.html

Oh, and that commercial: