Key Takeaways
- DICK’S in-house studio premieres a six-episode WNBA documentary on ESPN2 July 24, one year after the retailer expanded its league deal through 2028.
- Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios filmed A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier and DeWanna Bonner across the back half of the 2025 season and the offseason.
- The 2025 partnership expansion added a Jr. WNBA tie-in, connecting the retailer’s marketing rights to the league’s girls basketball pipeline.
- LeBron James is among four executive producers on the project, produced in collaboration with UNINTERRUPTED.
A Retailer Producing Its Own Long-Form Sports Content
DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) announced on July 20 that Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios, its in-house content and production studio, will release a six-episode documentary series titled Life In the W. According to the company, the series follows A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx and DeWanna Bonner of the Phoenix Mercury, and was filmed during the second half of the 2025 WNBA season and the ensuing offseason.
The first two episodes premiere Friday, July 24 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ahead of AT&T WNBA All Star Weekend. The remaining four air July 25 and July 26 in two-episode blocks, with all episodes available on the ESPN App for ESPN Select plan subscribers. ESPN serves as the official streaming partner.
The production credits reach beyond retail. DICK’S said the series was produced in collaboration with UNINTERRUPTED, with executive producers LeBron James, Jamal Henderson, Ben Turner and Matt Rissmiller, and co-executive producer Eliza Johnston.
“Following the journeys of A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier and DeWanna Bonner in ‘Life In the W’ encapsulates the kind of storytelling that we dream about bringing to life,” said Mark Rooks, VP of Creative, Sponsorship & Entertainment at DICK’S.
What the 2025 WNBA Expansion Actually Included
The premiere date carries a second meaning. DICK’S said the release marks the one-year anniversary of its multiyear partnership expansion with the WNBA, which named the retailer the Official Sporting Goods Retailer and Official Marketing Partner through the 2028 season. DICK’S first became the league’s Official Sporting Goods Retailer in 2021.
The 2025 expansion also created a new partnership with the Jr. WNBA, the league’s initiative dedicated to inspiring girls to play basketball and to learn and grow beyond the game, according to the company. That inclusion is the detail worth tracking for youth sports operators: a national retail marketing partner attached its rights package to the league’s youth participation program rather than treating the professional property in isolation.
The retail connection runs through product as well. DICK’S said it serves as a key retail partner for Wilson’s signature basketball shoes, including the Nike A’One and Nike A’Two, which rank among the company’s top-selling women’s basketball shoes.
Why a Brand-Owned Studio Changes the Sponsorship Math
Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios is described by DICK’S as an Emmy-winning in-house content and production studio built to tell human-centered stories through sport. A six-part series distributed on ESPN2 and the ESPN App means the retailer is supplying programming to a national rights holder rather than purchasing inventory inside someone else’s programming.
“To be entrusted with telling an athlete’s holistic story, on and off the court, is something we do not take lightly,” said Rebecca Covington, Sr. Director, Creative Production at DICK’S.
For youth sports properties evaluating brand partners, the structure is instructive. Brands with internal production capacity can offer distribution and storytelling as part of a sponsorship package, not only signage, product and cash. DICK’S also owns and operates GameChanger, a youth sports mobile platform for live streaming, scheduling, communications and scorekeeping, and has donated millions of dollars through its Sports Matter program and other community initiatives together with its Foundation.
Three Athletes, Six Episodes, and a 2028 Runway
DICK’S will have an on-site presence at WNBA Live presented by AWS, as it has for the past four years, with on-court activations featuring Nike and Jordan footwear and personalized digital keepsakes for attendees. The activation and the documentary land in the same weekend, in the league’s 30th season.
What the release does not specify is whether Jr. WNBA programming will receive its own content treatment from the studio. The rights agreement runs through 2028, leaving three more seasons for DICK’S to answer that question.
Source: DICK’S Sporting Goods, July 20, 2026, https://investors.dicks.com/news/news-details/2026/DICKS-EXPANDS-ITS-INVESTMENT-IN-WOMENS-SPORTS-WITH-COOKIE-JAR–A-DREAM-STUDIOS-LIFE-IN-THE-W-DOCUMENTARY-SERIES-ON-ESPN/default.aspx
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