Brand interest in new fencing, dance leagues illustrate marketing power in “niche” sports

The GIST: Two new leagues — the World Fencing League (WFL) and International Dance League (IDL) — are gearing up to serve avid fandoms for niche sports. But are they really that niche? Maybe not, and brands are counting on that wide appeal. Let’s boogie.

The WFL: The league hosted its global debut in LA on Saturday after officially selling out tickets for a 1.1K crowd. The league has made the sport more accessible for a broad audience with state-of-the-art tracking tech and a DAZN global streaming deal. Harry Potter and Star Wars comparisons and Keegan-Michael Key skits also helped explain the game.

• The league’s got Olympic prestige, but also a cool factor thanks to cofounder Miles Chamley-Watson. F1 champ Lewis Hamilton went to support his friend, while celebs like Swizz Beatz, Jay Shetty, and Ashley Greene were also in attendance. And the WFL’s already got major sponsors in Mercedes-Benz USA, Nike Fencing, Don Julio, and Bombay Sapphire.

The IDL: Yesterday, the IDL announced E.l.f Cosmetics as a founding partner, a new territory for the beauty brand and prominent women’s sports sponsor. E.l.f. already dallies outside of major sports leagues (think racing, Paralympic swimming, and wrestling), and the brand has been clear about seeing value activating across a variety of sports.

• Makeup is a big part of dance culture, so there’s easy alignment there, but what may be surprising are the stats E.l.f cited for inspiring the partnership: Dance is one of the most participated-in activities in the U.S. (26M annually), and it’s TikTok’s second most-viewed category with 181B hashtags.

• That may be why fellow blue-chip brands like Honda, Shopify, and Cîroc have already committed to the league. Locked in.

Zooming out: These sports have their audiences, but could still be facing a “make it or break it” situation without the right backing — similar to what we’ve seen with track & field. We’ve learned, especially from women’s sports and their fans, that every sport really does have an audience, and brands are understanding the value of that.

• Early brand buy-in is taking these leagues to the next level, and they get a lot of value from getting in on the ground floor at a (presumably) low cost. There’s really only upside here, and brand backing helps solidify leagues, while companies also gain affinity with avid, “niche” fans. It’s a delicate dance.