How Global Competition Turns Your Five-Year Deal Into a Market Bet
When athletes start choosing career destinations, partnership value shifts overnight.
Bloomberg's Jason Kelly has over two decades of experience tracking capital flows before most observers recognize market shifts. Part of that experience was his coverage of men's soccer's evolution, watching David Beckham's 2007 MLS arrival generate headlines but fail to close the competitive gap, as European leagues continued dominating global talent acquisition and viewership.
This game of US league “catch-up” has continued for years:
→ MLS adopted the international calendar in 2023, attempting to align with European seasons.
→ Gareth Bale retired to golf rather than extend his MLS career.
→ Top American prospects like Gio Reyna and Christian Pulisic built careers abroad rather than domestically.
Kelly's coverage showed him a pattern: once athletes and fans perceive one league as offering superior competition and infrastructure, that hierarchy becomes difficult to reverse. European clubs provided Champions League platforms and century-old institutional credibility. MLS offered expansion franchises playing in borrowed NFL stadiums.
He sees women's sports approaching that same crossroads. Brand executives budget based on domestic metrics like viewership and attendance. International properties invest in competitive infrastructure that reshapes where talent flows.
Most marketing executives assume they're betting on domestic growth. Kelly's coverage suggests they're actually betting on competitive positioning in a globalizing market.
Key Takeaways:
When serious debate emerges about whether better women’s soccer gets played in the US or Europe, partnership value calculus changes fundamentally
Five-year franchise commitments carry different risk if top athletes increasingly view international leagues as career destinations
CMOs making budget decisions need to evaluate competitive positioning alongside growth narratives—because market leadership today doesn't guarantee market position in three years
Why CMOs Need to Stop Making Domestic Bets in an International Market
Kelly's coverage reveals CMOs making partnership decisions based on domestic growth metrics like current attendance and social engagement, while international leagues invest in infrastructure that delivers returns years out. At a time when fans have access to the global market, the discussion can't just be about home turf anymore.
"I got in a text exchange recently with a pretty prestigious owner in sports,” says Kelly. “And we were debating where the best [women's] soccer is being played on a professional level, whether it's in the US or in Europe. That is a great debate to be having."
When conversation exists about competitive quality between US and international properties, brand partnerships become international market bets rather than domestic sponsorships. Alyssa Thompson moving from Angel City to Chelsea shouldn’t just check a box about roster changes, it should also signal to CMOs that European properties offer athletes something US franchises currently don't.
Marketing executives that structure partnerships with the assumption that only the US market is stable will end up losing competitive position. International leagues capture talent through the infrastructure advantages that domestic franchises haven’t yet caught up to.
Women's sports partnerships have increasingly resembled portfolio decisions about emerging markets. Doing due diligence along the traditional route focusing on current metrics might give you a clear picture of success today, but that train of thinking will not capture whether your sponsored franchise maintains relevance as markets globalize tomorrow.
Three Forces Reshaping Where Athletes Choose to Play
Through interviews with powerhouses like Sue Bird, Jess Smith, Laura Correnti , and Willow Bay on Bloomberg Original series The Deal, Kelly identified these competitive forces that marketing strategists should factor into global partnership decisions but rarely do.
Quarterly reports vs. decade-long bets
Kelly's conversations with investors deploying capital in Middle Eastern markets revealed how well-capitalized international properties could establish premium positioning faster than US franchises operating within corporate budget cycles.
When Kelly covered India's women's cricket league launch, their franchises were setting global records for valuations. Executives there explained how these valuations weren't anomalies. They were a preview into how international properties backed by sovereign wealth could outspend US franchises on talent recruitment and facility development.
Brand strategists have to juggle between the asymmetry of US partnerships operating within quarterly justification processes and competing properties deploying capital they’re measuring in decades, not quarters.
Europe's century head start
Trinity Rodman just became the highest-paid player in NWSL history at $3 million. The deal represents Washington Spirit ownership recognizing what European clubs already know: top talent demands compensation reflecting their market value, not what leagues traditionally pay.
The negotiation shows the competitive pressure US franchises face. European clubs offer UEFA Women's Champions League with continental competition visibility. When players choose between NWSL franchises and European clubs, they weigh salaries against whether their careers include competing for continental championships broadcast globally.
European clubs possess century-old brand equity and established global fanbases. When Chelsea or Barcelona launch women's teams, they inherit institutional credibility and international fan networks built over generations.
"The NWSL is starting from a position of strength that the MLS did not have on the men's side. The MLS has always been the little brother" says Kelly.
Once athletes and fans perceive European leagues as premier destinations for top competition, partnership value in US properties erodes regardless of domestic attendance growth. MLS spent decades trying to overcome the perception that European soccer was simply better. Women's soccer now sits at a similar inflection point where US leagues still maintain competitive credibility, but that window requires active defense through investments like Rodman's contract.
The Olympic effect on talent + market map
Brand executives across properties consistently frame Olympic windows as competitive moments reshaping market structure for subsequent cycles.
"The Olympics are gonna be a huge moment for lacrosse because lacrosse is gonna be in there for men and women for LA 2028."
Kelly's conversations revealed that sophisticated operators viewed LA 2028 as a catalyst in determining which properties would capture emerging talent pipelines and international attention for 2028-2032. League One Volleyball's strategic timing post-Paris Olympics showed how properties could capitalize on showcase momentum.
For brand partners, LA 2028 represents either home-field advantage where US properties cement leadership or risk that international leagues use Olympics to attract next-generation talent choosing career destinations.
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In private conversations, Kelly heard repeated concerns from executives and athlete-investors about how quickly European properties were building competitive infrastructure; these concerns were contrasting sharply with public growth messaging about US leagues.
Sue Bird and other athlete-investors told Kelly they were watching player movement patterns closely, understanding that today's transfers preview tomorrow's competitive balance. When executives privately worry about competitive windows narrowing while publicly emphasizing growth, brands should evaluate franchise partners through sustainability lenses rather than current season success.
Why Your 2028 Partnership Strategy Starts Now
LA 2028 Olympics create a three-year window where US women's sports properties either cement global competitive leadership or watch international leagues establish themselves as premier destinations for top talent.
The games bring unprecedented exposure to women's sports on American soil, but that exposure cuts both ways: international properties will use the platform to recruit from US college pipelines just as US franchises showcase competitive quality. Kelly observed sophisticated investors already positioning for this through facility openings and franchise launches timed around Olympic preparation.
Brands with partnerships extending through 2028 need strategies for how their properties will leverage the Olympic platform. Domestic growth won't continue automatically while international leagues actively recruit US talent.
