LAST WEEK TODAY: Big Names Making Big Moves

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Check out the blog every Monday for a weekly roundup of the past week's most exciting and industry-altering news. These stories cover October 21 - 27, 2019.

Budweiser, Southwest Airlines, and Hertz had some exciting moves this past week. Here's a brief look at what the headlines read this past week in the world of Women's national Soccer and Australian Football, NHL, and Motorsports.

1. The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in partnership with Budweiser is making some noise in the sponsorship industry and raising awareness for the growth of women's sports. The beer giant launched a new campaign calling on sponsors to join the NWSL. The campaign, titled “The Future Official” gives fans the opportunity to pledge support for nine different categories of sponsors, and are being encouraged to target their favorite brands via social media to join in.

The NWSL currently lists just 5 official sponsors, but Major League Soccer (MLS) displays 24 sponsors. It’s time even that playing field.

Budweiser put out a campaign video for Sunday’s NWSL matchup on ESPN this past Sunday, and in just four days, the video already has over 1.4 million views on YouTube. Take a look:

2. The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Nashville Predators announced Southwest Airlines Co. as their first-ever Official Airline Partner. Southwest offers non-stop flights from Nashville’s BNA airport to all 23 domestic cities the Predators will travel to making it easier than ever for fans to follow.

Bill Tierney, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Marketing said, “We are proud to connect two iconic Nashville brands in a unique partnership that celebrates two of the city’s main passion points: sports and travel.”

3. Hertz is on the move! They’ve extended their full-season associate-level partnership with 12-time NASCAR Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team of driver William Byron for another two years.

Byron commented, “They came on board the No. 24 during my rookie season and have continued their awesome support as we’ve grown as a team. We’ve done a lot in a short amount of time, but there’s so much more to accomplish. I can’t wait to put the new No. 24 Hertz paint scheme on the racetrack and see what else we can do together.”

A new look for @williambyron and @hertz next month @ismraceway- and for four races in 2020. pic.twitter.com/ajK6EDtJKU

— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) October 23, 2019

Hertz Australia is also becoming a major partner for Melbourne’s Australian Football League (AFL) and AFLW teams.

This partnership dates back to 1984 and for the next three years Hertz’s iconic logo will be on display on both the men’s and women’s playing apparel. Eoin MacNeill, VP of Hertz Asia Pacific said, “When deciding to increase our support of the Melbourne Football Club, the inclusion across both men’s and women’s teams was an important one.”

Look out next Monday for the usual round-up on sponsorship news.