New York Liberty Named to Fast Company’s Annual List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025
Tue, Mar 18, 2025, 3:26 PM
NEW YORK, N.Y. (March 18, 2025) — The reigning WNBA Champion New York Liberty have been named to Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025, in recognition of the team’s work to shape industry and culture in advertising and marketing.
In a year of surging interest in women’s sports, the New York Liberty firmly established the franchise as an enduring leader in the WNBA, and across the sports and entertainment industry broadly. The NY Liberty’s marketing campaigns redefine what is possible for a professional sports team and increase its appeal in creative ways, resulting in monumental growth across nearly every area of the business.
“We are incredibly proud to be named to Fast Company’s 2025 Most Innovative Companies list, a recognition that reflects our relentless dedication, passion, and vision for what women’s sports can achieve,” said Keia Clarke, Chief Executive Officer, New York Liberty. “We remain committed to pushing the boundaries of excellence both on and off the court, as we continue toward our goal to redefine what it means to be a champion.”
Off-the-court, the 2024 WNBA season saw the Liberty elevate the status of their viral mascot, Ellie the Elephant, to reach new audiences and draw in new fans, and ultimately support business goals of increasing brand exposure, driving ticket sales and building generational fandom. The team molded Ellie into an iconic performer, cultural icon and influencer, gracing magazine covers, red carpets and even the pages of Vogue. Ellie’s enhanced profile has created new revenue streams for the Liberty, who restructured their partnership strategy for the mascot, expanding existing – and creating new – partnerships in fashion and other consumer categories, and leveraging Ellie to be featured in multiple digital content series with team partners like Hero, Lyft, Bumble and Xbox. Additionally, Ellie worked with Nike to create a custom colorway for the new Sabrina 2s on sale at Nike.com, was gifted an Off-White look to wear on the player arrival tunnel when the brand announced their partnership with the team and collaborated with Nike/Air Jordan to launch their Nina Chanel collaboration. Trend-setting collaborations like these and more have resulted in a 70% growth in partnership revenue for the Liberty.
Liberty games have become the hottest party in New York with season ticket memberships soaring 152%, attendance at Barclays Center up 64% YoY with 26 sellouts, plus three standing-room only WNBA Finals games – two of which exceeded 18,000 fans. The Liberty also set the record for the highest playoff gate revenue in WNBA history this past season.
Merchandise sales have skyrocketed with Ellie plush dolls – sold for the first time this year – selling out in the first game they were available. The team also began selling Ellie braids, which rapidly sold out, and overall, in-arena merchandise sales are up 101% on game days and 241% on non-game days, while e-commerce revenue has grown an astounding 416%.
The Liberty have also prioritized connecting with new audiences in unique ways to gain widespread appeal beyond the sports world. This includes increasing accessibility to the action on the court through a historic deal with premier city network, WNYW FOX 5, that resulted in triple digit growth in viewership for locally televised games and a recently announced multiyear contract extension.
In another effort to expand the team’s reach, the Liberty launched a direct-to-consumer streaming platform, ‘Liberty Live’ – one of the first WNBA teams to do so – and partnered with Deloitte to refresh their mobile app to prioritize the fan experience through curated player-first content, bringing the modern fan closer to their favorite players. To further elevate their athletes, the Liberty also expanded their player marketing efforts, allowing fans to get to know their favorite players off-the-court. On social, fan engagement across platforms spiked 665% and the Liberty ranked Top 3 in the league for total engagement on Instagram and Twitter.
To further build the team’s fanbase in the community, the Liberty looked to their own backyard – hosting theme nights curated to reflect the diversity of New York City, enlisting New York-born performers for halftime performances, and tapping New York’s very own Alicia Keys to voiceover a championship video. The team also intuitively took advantage of the Olympic break by hosting Summerpalooza – a series of community events, which included free basketball clinics for more than 1,300 youth.
“Our list of the Most Innovative Companies offers both a comprehensive look at innovation today and a playbook for the future,” said Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “This year, we recognize companies that are harnessing AI in deep and meaningful ways, brands that are turning customers into superfans by overdelivering for them, and challengers that are introducing bold ideas and vital competition to their industries. At a time when the world is rapidly shifting, these companies are charting the way forward.”
The World’s Most Innovative Companies stands as Fast Company’s hallmark franchise and one of its most anticipated editorial efforts of the year. To determine honorees, Fast Company’s editors and writers review companies driving progress around the world and across industries, evaluating thousands of submissions through a competitive application process. The result is a globe-spanning guide to innovation today, from early-stage startups to some of the most valuable companies in the world. The full list of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies honorees can now be found at fastcompany.com. It will also be available on newsstands beginning March 25.
