The WNBA season is long over, but Sophie Cunningham is still dominating the headlines. Cunningham recently appeared in the October 27 episode of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” alongside hosts Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, and NFL legend Michael Strahan. Her collaborations with brands like Arby’s and Ring also grab a lot of attention. This time, however, Sophie Cunningham has appeared at an event that few expected her to.

Cunningham was invited as an honorary pace car driver for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Hollywood superstar Sydney Sweeney brought out the checkered flag. Sophie and Sydney also linked up before the event. The official NASCAR account posted the entry video of both the celebrities while captioning the video, “The stars are out in Phoenix. Welcome to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship, @sydney_sweeney and @sophie_cham! 🏁”

Cunningham summarised her experience in just two words, writing, “so fun 😍🔥❤️” Cunningham also reposted a story that had the caption, “@sophie_cham crushed the pace car drive.” For the unversed, a NASCAR pace car driver leads the field at controlled speed before the start and on restarts, and controls the pack under caution to ensure safety and compliance with procedures. 

There was significant responsibility on Cunningham to keep her speed just right before the race started. Her podcast “Show Me Something” also posted a carousel of photos of Cunningham from the track with multiple drivers and officials. They captioned the post, “@sophie_cham: WNBA player, podcaster… @nascar driver? Thank you to NASCAR for an amazing time at the NASCAR Cup Series Championship in Phoenix.” 

Cunningham is doing the majority of the MCL rehab there, but with no affiliation to her former team, the Phoenix Mercury. Cunningham is in the middle of moving houses. Just last week, Cunningham announced that she is “about to buy a house in Florida.” Cunningham is keeping her options open regarding a potential move from the Indiana Fever. 

Some experts feel the Indiana Fever might not need her back at all. “You also have to do the cost-benefit analysis of what’s the length of the contract, what’s the value of the contract that you’re willing to give her relative to what the rest of the market looks like, and who else could be available,” Robin Lundberg said. Many would assume that Sophie Cunningham’s popularity would decline away from the Indiana Fever, but her latest endorsement signals otherwise. 

Sophie Cunningham’s Brand Value Should Play Everywhere

Sophie Cunningham has skyrocketed off the court after associating with Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. Her social media following has also increased significantly. This gave Cunningham multiple endorsements, like Arby’s and the Ring. If she were to leave the Indiana Fever, which she has already hinted at, what would happen to her brand? 

The Indiana Fever has the highest social value in the WNBA by a mile. The marketing agency STN Digital and partnerships insights company Zoomph collaborated to evaluate more than 20K pieces of social media content from WNBA teams throughout the regular season, releasing their “WNBA Social Rankings and Insights Report.” The Indiana Fever had league-best social value ($55.04 million), engagements (38.73M), and impressions (1.17B) during the regular season. While that was expected, peek at the gap between Fever and the second-best. The runner-up was the Dallas Wings, with a social value of $8.61M.

Being at the Indiana Fever is certainly an advantage for Sophie Cunningham. However, the way Cunningham has capitalized on her single season in the franchise should give her enough base to maintain that regardless of the team. Beyond her other deals that we mentioned above, Cunningham has also signed with Adidas in some capacity.

The details of her contract are unknown. In July, she starred with Chelsea Gray in an ad to promote Damian Lillard’s new kicks. It seemed a one-time arrangement at the time. But Cunningham recently came out with another promotional post for the Lillard shoes. Cunningham featured several photos of her wearing Adidas gear (specifically pink Adidas shoes) that were captioned, “come get spicy like me with the Dame X Electric Pink kicks 🔥”. While Cunningham’s popularity might dip a little on leaving the Fever, her brand value should hold over the long term.