Dick’s Sporting Goods’ documentary initiative around three WNBA stars is less a sponsorship story than an indicator of where retail marketing budgets are heading: away from campaign spend and toward owned media that brands, not broadcasters or leagues, control outright.
Dick’s Sporting Goods is expanding its push into original sports storytelling with Life In the W, a six part documentary series following WNBA stars A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier and DeWanna Bonner. Produced by the retailer’s in house studio, Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios, and co produced with UNINTERRUPTED, the series premieres July 24 on ESPN2 as the WNBA celebrates its 30th season.
The project follows Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios’ first documentary production, released in November 2025, as part of DICK’S stated strategy to build a longer term content operation rather than treating documentary storytelling as a one off marketing exercise.
Women’s basketball is the growth play
Life In the W arrives one year after DICK’S expanded its partnership with the WNBA, becoming both the league’s Official Sporting Goods Retailer and Official Marketing Partner through 2028 while also adding a partnership with the Jr. WNBA youth basketball initiative.
The documentary follows three of the league’s most recognizable players during the second half of the 2025 season and the subsequent offseason. Wilson, Collier and Bonner already feature prominently in DICK’S marketing initiatives, while the retailer also sells Wilson’s signature Nike A’One and A’Two basketball shoes.
A growing content strategy
Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios was created to develop original sports stories that complement the retailer’s broader brand and partnership activities. In announcing Life In the W, DICK’S executives emphasized the opportunity to showcase players’ lives on and off the court.
The shift toward athlete centered storytelling in sports marketing is not new. What is new is that retailers are now embracing it, not just brands.
In women’s sports, brands, media companies and athlete organizations are increasingly investing in documentaries and episodic content designed to deepen fan engagement between competitions. Nike has supported several WNBA focused productions, while the WNBPA and Under Armour have also invested in athlete led storytelling projects. Life In the W is ultimately less about launching another documentary than about strengthening DICK’S position within women’s sports, now that competition among brands to occupy this space is growing.
