From college athletics to corporate partnerships in the NWSL and PWHL, Paul Gugliucci on the evolution of brand investment in women's sports, what's still being left on the table, and why the rocket ship hasn't peaked.
Paul Gugliucci has worked in women's pro sports long enough to see brands change how they invest. At first, they sponsored teams just to support the cause. Now, their decisions are based on business strategy. Paul led partnerships with Chicago Stars FC in the NWSL and helped launch the PWHL from the ground up, selling sponsorships for a brand-new league with no track record, only belief in the idea. He has seen the conversations shift from "Why invest?" to "How can we grow this?" And he knows there's still a lot of room to grow.
1. Briefly share your background.
I earned a degree in sports management and went straight into college athletics. I spent about seven or eight years there, most of that time at the University of Oklahoma on the fundraising side, working with donors and stadium expansion projects. Then I moved to Chicago and was out of sports for about 18 months, working in tech sales, but I was always looking to get back into it. In 2019, I joined the Chicago Red Stars (now the Chicago Stars FC) as a ticketing sales manager. When COVID happened, I was able to jump into corporate partnerships. In 2023, I had the opportunity to join the PWHL and help launch the league and sell founding partnerships. I was there about a year and a half, and as of January 2025, I'm back with the Chicago Stars. We're building a training facility in Evanston and are now working on the corporate partnership space there.
2. You started your career in college athletics before moving through ticket operations, event management, and corporate partnerships. How has seeing the full business shaped the way you approach deals and relationships today?
Having worked in different departments helps me in partnership sales because I understand the bigger picture. If you only work in corporate partnerships, you might not know how everything fits together, like event management, ticketing, hospitality, or the overall marketing plan.
When I talk to a potential partner, I can explain how a deal will work from multiple perspectives because I have that experience. This helps me give better advice to agencies and brands. I can show them how things might look before the partnership even starts.
3. You've spent years building corporate partnerships in women's professional sports, with both the NWSL and the PWHL. What's changed most in how brands think about investing in women's sports over that time?
Early on, brands invested in women's sports because it seemed fair and looked good. Now, they see it as a smart business choice. That's what we've always wanted.
This new business focus brings challenges. With more money being invested, we have to prove the value of our partnerships. Before, it was about looking inclusive. Now, brands sometimes choose women's sports over men's. There's more attention now, which is good, but it's also harder. Everyone involved (brands, agencies, and teams) has a different idea of value. We try to work together and stay on the same page.
4. Women's sports sponsorship is having a real moment right now. Valuations are rising, media deals are getting done, and brands are paying attention. But what's still being undervalued or overlooked that you wish more people in the room understood?
I think what I still tell folks is: this is still early on. You can look at the traditional leagues. What was the NBA doing in the '60s and '70s? Look where it is now. The NWSL is a 15-year-old league. So if you're investing now, you're still early on, and it might not feel that way with the explosion of leagues. Volleyball, WNBA, the NWSL, PWHL. All these options, all this attention, all the year-over-year value growth. But I don't think this thing has peaked at all.
Think about it this way: there's one NWSL stadium right now. All these teams are going to build stadiums. All these teams are going to build training facilities. That's what's next. There's an arms race. With that, teams now have real estate and property, and the opportunity to get involved in that. We're still early on.
5. You made the jump from the NWSL to the PWHL during a pivotal moment for women's hockey. What drew you to that opportunity, and what did you learn about building a sponsorship program essentially from the ground up?
What drew me in was talking to the people launching the league and seeing how excited the fans were. After working in the NWSL and seeing brands get involved, it felt like women’s pro hockey was a great next step.
There had been other leagues before that didn’t work out. But when I met with PWHL leadership, I saw a clear plan from the top down. Teams in both the US and Canada had a real chance to do something bigger. We could sell for a league across North America, with everything run together.
The hard part was that we had no data to show brands, just forecasts and beliefs. We told them, “Get in early, because we believe this will work.” Now, the PWHL is growing as we hoped. I think the brands that took a chance early are seeing the payoff as the league gets bigger.
6. A lot of partnership professionals talk about moving from transactional deals to true brand integrations. What does that actually look like in practice at a club like Chicago Stars FC, and what makes a brand partner genuinely show up for a women's sports property?
Almost every brand we meet now says, “We don’t want to just put our logo somewhere.” That’s good, because it lets us get creative.
There’s much more back-and-forth now in making deals. For example, we launched a partnership with a river cruise line in Chicago. Our players went on the boat, and fans got discounts. We also have a brand where players do internships. When you mix the team and the brand this way, you create experiences beyond the game. The players get involved in ways that matter.
Almost every partnership we have now gets players and fans involved outside of just watching a game or seeing a logo. Big brands also offer ticket discounts to their employees and help us bring in more fans. That’s what a true partnership looks like, not just a sponsorship.
7. The Chicago Stars are hosting World Cup watch parties this summer. How do you think about moments like that from a partnerships standpoint, and what does it take to turn a one-time event into something that actually builds lasting relationships with fans and sponsors?
We talked to a lot of people before this FIFA World Cup. Many say their money is already with FIFA or U.S. Soccer. Our initiative is to ask brands, “What’s next after July 19th, when the World Cup ends? You’ve made a big investment. How will you keep it going in soccer?”
Brands will build momentum from the FIFA World Cup and U.S. Soccer. So, what’s next for 2027 and 2028? NWSL teams are growing and building new stadiums close to home. The FIFA Women’s World Cup will be in Brazil in 2027, and then there will be one here on US soil in 2031. The game keeps getting bigger. They see the benefits now, and we want to be part of their plans for 2027, 2028, and beyond.
8. For someone early in their career who wants to work in sports partnerships, what's the most important thing they should be doing right now that most people aren't?
Build connections with as many people as you can. If you’re not sure what path to take, try sales. Sales is where you win or lose deals and set real goals. If you like partnerships and have any interest in sales, get started now.
Connect with people in agencies and brands, not just teams. Sometimes you know someone for years before it leads to a deal. When I moved to the PWHL, an old contact finally had a brand that wanted to work with us. Don’t expect quick payoffs. Take the meetings and have those short conversations. It pays off later.
Women’s pro sports is a small world. Everyone knows each other in the WNBA, PWHL, and NWSL. Get to know people early. When your name comes up, they’ll remember and trust you. That’s how you open doors.
9. What's your favorite sports moment, on or off the field?
For me, it has nothing to do with work. I'm a fan first, and that's the reason I got into this. I'm from New York. I grew up in the parking lots of Jets games. My family had season tickets, and I can still feel what it was like as a five, six or seven-year-old going every Sunday.
I've been chasing that feeling ever since. I played sports, got involved in the industry, and now I have kids playing sports. I took my kids recently to a PWHL open practice in Chicago. Just a practice. And that's the moment that sticks out to me over anything I've done professionally. Getting to let my kids experience the same feeling I had growing up and going to games.
I try to integrate sports into my life as much as possible, and where I feel it most isn't through work. It's through doing it with my young kids.
The Game Behind the Game
Paul has been direct about where brand partnerships are heading: away from logo placements and transactional spending, toward integrations that capture attention in ways traditional channels no longer can. That shift is exactly what Fastbreak Connect is built for at the grassroots level.
Youth sports events are among the few places where Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and their parents are fully present and off their screens every weekend. Connect partners with consumer brands to put them inside those moments, not as a banner on a fence but as a real part of the experience. One relationship, one program, thousands of events. Brands get the authentic, high-attention access Paul is describing. Families get something worth remembering.
About Top of the 9th
Top of the 9th is a Fastbreak AI original series featuring the athletes, organizers, and operators who make sports exceptional. Fastbreak AI is a proud partner of the NWSL, powering the league's schedule with Fastbreak Pro Schedule.
