A’Ja Wilson Becomes First Female Athlete to Sign Endorsement Deal With Ruffles

Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ahead of the tipoff of the WNBA playoffs tonight, the basketball league's official chip announced a huge endorsement deal for one of the players that will be vying for the championship.

Ruffles announced Las Vegas Aces star forward A’ja Wilson, 26, has signed a multi-year contract with the brand.

"Now, as the Official Chip of the WNBA, we're proud to welcome our first-ever female athlete to our roster with a flavor of her own," Stacy Taffet, senior vice president of marketing, Frito-Lay North America, said of the deal in a statement released by the company. "A'ja embodies what it means to Own Your Ridges, so we're owning our ridges too and elevating our product game as part of this partnership by bringing fans the first-of-its-kind Ruffles Ridge Twists."

Dream come true for a snackaholic 🥹😅
Blessings 🤍🤍🤍 https://t.co/QHIOAkC8E5

— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) August 15, 2022

The chipmaker added that the deal with the four-time WNBA All-Star would begin with the “game-changing launch of the new Ruffles Ridge Twists product line, including her own signature flavor, Smoky BBQ."

"I grew up eating Ruffles so it's a dream come true to join the family of Chip Deal athletes and have my own signature flavor that's inspired by my Southern roots," Wilson said.

The deal makes the Hopkins, South Carolina, native the first-ever female athlete to represent the brand.

Selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft by the Aces, Wilson led the University of South Carolina to its first NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship in 2017. The Gamecock's all-time leading scorer, she was named the SEC Player of the Year a record three times in a row and led South Carolina to four consecutive SEC championships.

Wilson was named the WNBA's Rookie of the Year in 2018. She earned league MVP honors in 2020 and won an Olympic gold medal the same year as part of Team USA.

The chips will be available in stores nationwide in the coming weeks and are currently available on snacks.com in 5.5oz bags for $5.59 and 1.75oz bags for $2.29. Las Vegas heads into the WNBA Playoffs as the league’s top-seeded team. They face off against the Phoenix Mercury at home in Game 1 of the first round at 10 p.m. ET.