Timed to National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the Roster signals how beauty’s relationship with sports is evolving.Ulta Beauty
Timed to National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the Roster signals how beauty’s relationship with sports is evolving: from episodic endorsements to structured, multi-channel programs that blend commerce, content, community impact and cultural relevance. Unlike traditional sponsorships, Ulta’s model is designed to live across its omnichannel footprint. The athletes—ranging from WNBA All-Star Dearica Hamby to pickleball phenom Anna Leigh Waters—will create digital content, share beauty routines tied to performance and confidence, engage in community giveback, and anchor product discovery through Ulta-owned channels. The retailer is also launching Roster for Change, a new annual grant program aimed at addressing the steep drop-off of girls in sports by funding local teams, facilities, equipment and participation costs.
The strategy reflects a broader recalibration underway across beauty: sports partnerships are no longer about visibility alone—they’re about credibility, ritual and relevance.
Ulta’s move follows a growing slate of high-profile deals that underscore how performance, identity and beauty are converging. With the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics approaching, Gillette Venus recently announced partnerships with U.S. figure skaters Alysa Liu, Isabeau Levito and Starr Andrews, extending its long-standing “ritual” positioning into cold-weather performance conditions. Venus has increasingly framed shaving not as vanity, but as part of an athlete’s mental and physical readiness—an approach that aligns product benefits directly with competitive moments.
Meanwhile, beauty is also embedding itself into major league fandom. In January 2026, Saie became an Official Partner of the New York Knicks, gaining in-arena visibility at Madison Square Garden and on its iconic 7th Avenue marquee. The partnership ties Saie’s high-performance, long-wear positioning to endurance and grit—qualities central to both sports culture and beauty’s current performance narrative.
At the league level, e.l.f. Cosmetics’ multi-year partnership with the National Women’s Soccer League remains a reference point. As the NWSL’s first official beauty sponsor, e.l.f. used its platform to link access to sports with leadership outcomes, youth participation and cultural impact.e.l.f. Beauty
What differentiates Ulta’s Roster is its scale and ambition. As a multi-brand retailer, Ulta isn’t promoting a single hero product; it’s positioning itself as the destination where beauty and athletic identity intersect. Digital trading cards spotlighting athletes’ “powers,” grant funding tied to grassroots sports, and content designed for discovery all point to a retailer leveraging sports to drive both loyalty and lifetime value.
For beauty executives, the takeaway is clear: sports partnerships are maturing into full-funnel strategies. As women’s sports gain cultural and commercial momentum, beauty brands—and retailers—are finding that the most durable returns come from programs that integrate performance, purpose and product into one cohesive system. Ulta’s latest initiative suggests the era of one-off athlete deals is fading. What’s replacing it looks a lot more like infrastructure.
