Key Takeaways:
- The WNBA’s “Line ‘Em Up” campaign is installing pro-level 3-point arcs on public courts across the country.
- The project helps young players visualize themselves in elite spaces and builds community pride.
- A short film and social rollout celebrate the legacy of streetball and the women who shaped it.
The WNBA is making its mark — literally — with a new campaign called “Line ‘Em Up,” which brings the league’s official three-point line to outdoor basketball courts across the country. First announced on Monday (Jun 9), the initiative aims to shift how young women and girls see themselves in the culture of pickup basketball by embedding the WNBA’s identity directly into local communities.
Led by Bethany Donaphin, head of league operations and former player, the campaign stems from a deeply personal place. Donaphin reflected on her own experience growing up in 1990s New York, where she was often the only girl on the blacktop. She told NBC Sports, “If I had had an orange line while I was going through that process, it would have given not just me, but the other kids around me, an understanding that, yeah, what I was doing was completely part of what any person would do if they love something.”
“Line ‘Em Up” officially launches Thursday (June 12) at the outdoor courts of Brooklyn Bridge Park, with Indianapolis set as the next stop during WNBA All-Star Weekend in July. As part of the campaign, the league will partner with local parks and recreation departments to install vibrant orange three-point lines — exactly matching the league’s regulation arc.
How the WNBA’s outdoor court initiative boosts visibility and empowerment for girls
The goal of the initiative is twofold: To represent the league in everyday basketball environments and to empower girls and nonbinary youth in spaces where they’ve long been underrepresented. WNBA Chief Marketing Officer Phil Cook explained, “There’s not a basketball player in the world who hasn’t spent some time dribbling on an outdoor space,” Cook said. “And women, young women, have been going to the park for as long as park basketball has been happening. They just haven’t had their representation in that space.”
The project also comes with tangible support. The league will donate to each participating park, ensuring that the new paint comes with sustainable investment. WNBA teams, including the newly launched Golden State Valkyries, have been briefed on how to implement the campaign in their own markets.
The campaign’s debut was teased by players like Allisha Gray, Courtney Williams, Alyssa Thomas, and Rickea Jackson, as well as media figures like Robin Roberts and Arielle Chambers. Photos shared on social media last week included a striking orange arc against a blue background, now revealed to be the campaign’s visual signature.
Toronto and Portland, both set to join the league as expansion cities, are also being positioned as future hubs for the initiative, signaling that the WNBA’s growth is as physical as it is cultural.
WNBA’s Line ‘Em Up short film highlights women’s basketball legends and blacktop history
To introduce the initiative, the WNBA released a short film directed by Korean-Canadian filmmaker Iris Kim. The piece features iconic parks like Rucker Park, Venice Beach, The Cage and Dyckman, offering a visceral look at where basketball culture is born.
WNBA legends and New York natives Sue Bird, Chamique Holdsclaw, Epiphanny Prince, and Tina Charles reflected on what it meant to break into male-dominated courts as young girls. Charles recalled the pressure and pride of competing in Queens: “I know I had something to prove.” Holdsclaw admitted she used to hustle the boys who tried to count her out.
The film also spotlights community leaders like Sharon Bond and Alex Taylor. As Bird explained in the film’s closing, the next generation won’t know the world before this line — a quiet but bold act of normalization.
You can check out more about the “Line ‘Em Up” campaign here.