After 9 million people watched the US Women’s National Soccer Team win a gold medal last year, and with NWSL viewership up almost 300% year over year, it’s probably safe to say people know how to tune into women’s soccer. But without icons like Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara playing in the NWSL this season, some might not know who to watch.

The league’s third annual marketing campaign, called “Just Watch,” which rolled out ahead of kickoff this month, is meant to help with that, according to Julie Haddon, the NWSL’s chief marketing and commercial officer. The lead ad in the campaign is composed of action shots of stars like Olympic standouts Trinity Rodman and Sophia Wilson, reigning NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga, and Brazilian soccer legend Marta, as well as younger players like Alyssa Thompson and Ally Sentnor.

Just don’t call it a women’s soccer ad, Haddon said.

“We’re focusing on the game, and it just happens to be played by women,” she told Marketing Brew. “We’re not making a women’s ad. We’re making a soccer ad that is showing the best in the world…but it’s not a women’s soccer ad.”

Read more about NWSL’s third annual marketing campaign here.—AM

Ad breaks might come as a jump scare to consumers who are shelling out for streaming subscriptions.

Nearly 80% of consumers “expect to see no ads at all” if they’re paying for a streaming service, according to new research from free streaming service Tubi and The Harris Poll. Around the same percentage of consumers said they were okay with watching ads in order to watch programming for free.

According to the report, released last week, viewers are shelling out an average of $129 per month for streaming services and other paid TV subscriptions, a 7.5% YoY jump, and subscribe to nearly seven streamers in total—an average of 3.9 paid streamers and 2.6 free ones.

Gen Z consumers are particularly sensitive to rising costs: 76% indicated they have or would cancel a streaming subscription due to a price hike.

“All’s fair in streaming and marketing—but not if you’re paying for it,” the report read.

The report, called The Stream 2025: Audience Insights Shaping Streaming, surveyed 2,500 adults 18 years and older in the US who stream video for at least an hour each week, asking them about ad openness, viewing habits, and the content they prefer.

We’ve rounded up some highlights from the report, so keep on reading here.—JS

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Nicholas Love is CEO of the brand agency Kulur Group. He’s also worked at Hotwire and G&S Business Communications, and he is an adjunct professor at Grambling State University.

Favorite project you’ve worked on: One of my favorite projects was a webinar we hosted at Kulur Group on what brands and marketers could learn from rap battles. It embodied the culture and mission I aim to set—a focus on agility, innovation, and cultural intelligence amplifying diverse, interdisciplinary perspectives. The webinar was a collaborative effort that brought together voices from various disciplines: brand and creative strategy, content and storytelling, social media, and even a rapper’s perspective. This unique blend allowed us to dissect real-world lessons from rap battles, which were influenced by Drake and Kendrick Lamar, such as the importance of speed and response in today’s fast-paced marketing landscape. For instance, Kendrick’s ability to react quickly and maintain control of the narrative was a key takeaway. Brands today face a similar challenge: staying relevant means responding to trends with both speed and quality, or risk being drowned out by the sheer volume of content in the market.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? Old Spice’s iconic “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.” You know the one that starts with the saying, “Look at your man, now back to me.” It was brilliantly disruptive, combining humor with a catchy hook that made it unforgettable. What made it so effective for me was its unexpectedness. It was the kind of attention-grabbing experience you couldn’t look away from. The campaign was memorable and impactful, so much that it influenced my own buying decisions. To this day, when I see Old Spice on shelves, that ad immediately comes to mind.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: I was an extra in the movie Drumline! It was a phenomenal experience as a member of the World Famed Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band. We were the first band featured in the Big South Classic, which was the movie’s climax. During filming, there was a real battle of the bands between Grambling State University, Morris Brown College, Clark Atlanta University, and Bethune-Cookman University. I truly wish they shared the real battle of the bands, because we rocked the Georgia Dome.

Read more here.

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• CVS Health renewed its jersey sponsorship with the Washington Spirit for another three years, one of the biggest deals in the NWSL, according to the league.
• McDonald’s is collaborating with Minecraft to release meals related to A Minecraft Movie.
• Mentos is integrating into Fortnite with a branded rocket launcher in the game.
• Publicis expanded its partnership with Adobe, integrating Adobe’s AI with its own AI platform, per Marketing Dive.