- Indiana Fever star Aliyah Boston is now a co-owner of Sequel, the athlete-founded spiral tampon startup that already serves as the Fever's official tampon sponsor.
- Boston is receiving equity in exchange for social media posts and marketing campaigns, not a flat endorsement fee.
- Sequel marked the deal by recreating Boston's locker room at a Fever home game and handing out 5,000 free tampon boxes to fans.
- This is not Boston's first equity stake, but it's the first time she's taken an active, ongoing role inside a company she's invested in.
Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, has a new title: co-owner. The Indiana Fever center has joined Sequel, the spiral-tampon startup founded by Stanford engineers and former athletes Amanda Calabrese and Greta Meyer, as an equity partner.
Sequel was already the Fever’s official tampon sponsor when, in February, Boston asked her management team to connect her with the company. “It wasn’t even the normal process,” Calabrese said. “She’s already a fan of the product. Let’s start building together.”
By August, Boston had officially joined as co-owner, trading social posts and marketing campaigns for equity rather than a flat fee.
To celebrate, Sequel worked with an experiential marketing firm to build a life-size replica of Boston’s locker room in the concourse at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, complete with her signed jersey and shoes, and gave away 5,000 free tampon boxes.
The move fits a broader shift: athletes and creators trading endorsement checks for ownership stakes. It echoes recent moves like Andre Drummond’s equity stake in Stria Sport and Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s investment in recovery-tech brand Skinletics, as well as Alix Earle’s recent equity stake in wellness brand Cymbiotika, part of a trend Earle helped kick off with her early investment in Poppi.
WNBA-adjacent star JuJu Watkins has taken a similar path, becoming the first college athlete to invest directly in a pro women’s sports team.
“Equity is always a great opportunity because these brands are growing,” Boston said. “You never know when a brand might sell, and then your money is worth way more.”
Calabrese noted the risk brands take in chasing athlete partners: “Their job is not brand deals and creating content… If you don’t have the ‘why’ to back it up, trust is going to be an uphill battle.” For Sequel, Boston’s genuine use of the product made her an easy yes.
Boston’s endorsement portfolio spans multiple categories, including Adidas, for whom she has a player-exclusive shoe design; retailer T.J. Maxx; American Express, where she’s a brand ambassador with event appearances; and Aflac Duck. Boston is also an investor in the NWSL expansion club Boston Legacy FC.
Takeaways
Athletes are increasingly choosing ownership over one-off paychecks, and Boston’s move shows why: equity compounds as a brand grows, while a flat fee is locked in the moment the ink dries.
For a startup like Sequel, landing a star with genuine, pre-existing brand loyalty is worth more than any paid spokesperson; the “why” Calabrese talks about is exactly what turns a partnership into a business bet both sides can win.
Would you rather see athletes take equity or straight cash from brand deals, and does it change how you view the partnership? Does Sequel’s growth potential make this a smarter long-term move for Boston than a traditional shoe deal? What does it say about the WNBA’s growth that Under-30 founders are now recruiting the league’s biggest stars as co-owners instead of just spokespeople?
