As women’s sports rack up wins, league sponsorships are less about slapping a brand on the game than finding the right teammate to keep the streak alive. That’s where brands like Gainbridge come in.
The Indiana-based finance and insurance firm recently purchased the naming rights to the USL Super League, effective at the start of the upcoming 2025-26 season. Now, through its network of women’s sports sponsorships—including this year’s WNBA All-Star events in Indianapolis—and its support of the Indianapolis 500, Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix, and race teams in both NASCAR and IndyCar, Gainbridge has a chance to expand its own reach while elevating the Super League from an underdog to a contender.
Reading the pitch
The United Soccer League’s Super League women’s division launched at the end of 2024 as a step up from the USL’s semi-pro W League. At the highest level of women’s soccer right next to the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the eight-team Super League is in the middle of its first playoffs after a season in which it didn’t draft players, didn’t have a salary cap, and streamed all its matches on NBCUniversal’s Peacock.
Though the Super League is just wrapping up its first season, the USL has existed as an organization for nearly 40 years and includes a men’s side that has just announced a Division One league for 2027, which would compete with Major League Soccer for attention and talent, allowing for promotion from and relegation to its lower USL Championship and USL League One divisions. Both its men’s and women’s sides have academy systems for player development, while the Super League already has franchises in North Carolina, Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Brooklyn; has an expansion franchise awaiting in Jacksonville next season; and has a seven-city waiting list for teams after 2026 that includes Phoenix, Oakland, and Indianapolis.
“When we launched the league, part of our ethos was about creating more opportunities and more communities for women’s professional soccer so people can watch, work, and play the game that they love in more markets than have ever had access to the professional women’s game,” said Amanda Vandervort, USL president.
So, why did the Super League not only agree to take on Gainbridge as a sponsor and financial services provider, but also rename itself the Gainbridge Super League, starting in the 2025-26 season later this year? Here’s a hint: It’s not just to soften up fans in Gainbridge’s hometown.
