Counselor Top 40 distributor Bensussen Deutsch and Associates (BDA, asi/137616) is kicking up its support of soccer and women’s sports.
The Woodinville, WA-headquartered branded-merchandise agency announced this week that it has inked a new licensing partnership with the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the top women’s professional league in the United States.
BDA asserted that the agreement builds on the firm’s already-strong portfolio of soccer clients. The company is currently a national premiums partner to Major League Soccer (MLS, the top men’s league in the U.S. and Canada) and world soccer’s governing body, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), for the 2026 World Cup.
“Our partnerships with MLS, their individual soccer teams and now the NWSL demonstrate our long-standing commitment to supporting soccer around the globe,” said Steve Avanessian, executive vice president of client services at BDA. “Based on our expertise in soccer, we bring a holistic understanding of the NWSL’s team brands, their values and their highly devoted fan base.”
BDA’s agreement with the NWSL runs through the end of 2026. As a national premium partner to the NWSL, BDA will manage all promotional goods, including match day giveaways, gifting, community activations and partner activations.
Avanessian noted that BDA is also partnered with the Women’s National Basketball Association, adding that the agreement with the NWSL strengthens the distributorship’s support of women’s athletics.
“The NWSL is a league that epitomizes the growing power of women’s sports,” Avanessian said. “We look forward to strengthening the connection between fans and players with an incredible assortment of merchandise.”
BDA has been busy forging new high-profile partnerships of late. In September, the company announced that it will serve as the Seattle Seahawks official branded-merchandise partner in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It’s part of international expansion efforts by the National Football League – and BDA’s own extensive efforts to grow business abroad.
Based on reported 2023 North American promotional product revenue of $452 million, BDA ranked sixth on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry. The Sports Business Journal this year named BDA one of the best places to work in sports.
