Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Discover Financial Services is facing gender and age bias claims, Melania Trump teases her memoir coming out this fall, and Erin Andrews’s sports apparel brand is ready for the new NFL season.
– Game time. During last night’s NFL season opener, Erin Andrews watched as her brand was back—if not quite where it all began, where things changed for the line last year. The longtime Fox sports reporter is also the founder of Wear by Erin Andrews, a line of sports-themed women’s apparel—one that Taylor Swift repeatedly sported while supporting Travis Kelce at Kansas City Chiefs games last year.
It just so happened that the Chiefs played the Ravens to kick off this year’s NFL season, with the Chiefs winning 27-20. And although Swift showed up this time dressed more like a pop star in a Versace denim bustier than a casual football fan, the impact of her support for the brand was clear throughout Arrowhead Stadium. “It’s so awesome to walk into stadiums and see women wearing your gear,” Andrews says.
Andrews’s brand has spent the off-season preparing for round two of the Swiftie NFL season. Unsurprisingly, the items Swift wore at games, like a $129 Chiefs windbreaker, immediately sold out last season. But as much as Swifties have adopted the Chiefs as their team, plenty of Swift fans were already committed NFL fans with teams of their own. The Swift bump extended to other teams’ versions of the same items of clothing. “Swifties aren’t just Chiefs fans. They’re Miami Dolphins fans. They’re Green Bay Packers fans,” Andrews says.
Andrews launched Wear by EA in 2019 after a 20-year career in sports, during which she often noticed that none of the team apparel sold at stadiums appealed to her. It was just men’s apparel in smaller sizes, and she preferred a more feminine—but casual—look. “There was so much for men, but only a few styles for women. What was available for women was still the same stuff I was seeing in college when I would buy stuff from Pink,” she says, remembering the NFL apparel sold at the Victoria’s Secret offshoot. “There was a huge white space, but it took forever for people to listen to us—four or five years of pitching it.” Her brand created team jackets, shirts, bags and jewelry in partnership with BaubleBar specifically for women. The brand is sold via Fanatics and in team stores.
Andrews has spent her career as one of the most visible reporters in men’s sports. So as she built the brand, she’s been focused on the leagues she knows: NFL, MLB, NHL, and the NBA. Wear recently launched college sports apparel—a way into the world of women’s sports fandom.
“They’re two different worlds that we’re seeing,” Andrews says of the parallel rise of women’s sports and her efforts to bring more women into men’s sports. “But I think women like myself can help.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Calling out bias.Former Discover Financial Services executive Diane Offereins sued the company, alleging gender and age bias. Offereins said she lost over $7 million in stock awards and was the only woman and retired executive who lost equity following regulatory issues at the company. Discover did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters
- Making noise.Afghan women are protesting the Taliban’s new laws that prohibit them from using their voices or having their faces visible in public. Activists are sharing videos on social media, singing as a form of protest. CBS
- Silver lining.JetBlue, with CEO Joanna Geraghty, saw its shares rise almost 10%. The company attributed its boost in revenue in part to the CrowdStrike outage in July. While other airlines’ systems went down, JetBlue was unaffected and able to continue booking flights amidst the sea of cancellations. Quartz
- Sneak peek. Former First Lady Melania Trump teased her soon-to-be-released memoir in a video shared on social media. She said, “As a private person who has often been the subject of public scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts. I believe it is important to share my perspective, the truth.” The book is set to come out around a month before the election. Axios
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
TD SYNNEX, a solutions provider for the IT industry, named Reyna Thompson company president of North America. Most recently, Thompson led the company’s North America Advanced Solutions business unit.
The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom focused on issues affecting women and LGBTQ+ people, named LaSharah S. Bunting vice president. She is currently at the Online News Association as chief executive officer and executive director.
Exelon, a utility company, named Marie Sylla Dixon senior vice president of federal affairs. She most recently served as senior vice president of government and external affairs at Albertsons Companies.
BlueHub Capital, a nonprofit community development financing organization, appointed Jackie Barry Hamilton as chief financial officer. Previously, she was CFO at Sense Labs. Hamilton replaces Lisa Zappala, who is now executive vice president of finance before she retires next year.
Stitch Fix, an online personal styling service, added Fiona Tan to its board of directors. She is currently the chief technology officer at Wayfair.
Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company, appointed Lisa Campbell to its board of directors. Most recently, she was OneTrust’s chief marketing officer.
ON MY RADAR
How Nichole Wischoff won the internet to raise $50 million for her VC firmForbes
The Chappell Roan fan discourse should be a reminder that stalking is all too commonTeen Vogue
How to give away a fortuneNew Yorker
PARTING WORDS
“I gave everything to this sport and what I got in return was more than I could have ever dreamed of.”
— Soccer star Alex Morgan, announcing her retirement
