You will need to pay Sophie Cunningham to point. Cunningham’s signature point cannot be used by the WNBA’s official corporate partners to promote their goods, the league has confirmed. At least not as part of the league’s general agreement with commercial partners to use players’ names, images, and likenesses without first consulting them.
The WNBA Players Association is presently forbidding licensees from using the Sophie point, claiming that it is “derogatory,” according to Darren Rovell’s first tweet. The union received confirmation of this from Front Office Sports, and a representative informed them:
“For licensed apparel, we generally do not feature or look to monetize player conduct from a confrontation between our members.”
Basically, Cunningham’s point, which was aimed at DeWanna Bonner during a scrum between the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury earlier this season, is off-limits because it was deemed disparaging. However, if you’re a league partner and want to put a picture of Caitlin Clark on some marketing materials, you can do that.
It would be a bit of a nightmare if the union permitted sponsors to use it in conjunction with festivities or highlights. Cunningham is permitted to negotiate directly with those same sponsors, though. After that, she is free to point at anything you want her to.
Right now, Cunningham is pointing at things for free. Over the weekend, she was pointing with children at her basketball camp, and when she entered the cage at UFC 329, she pointed with Max Holloway. Currently, the goal is not to get compensated.
