State Farm Gives Its Courtside Padding a Speaking Role With Caitlin Clark

State Farm is making one of basketball’s most ignored fixtures impossible to miss.

Ahead of the 2026 WNBA season, the insurance giant teamed up with WNBA star Caitlin Clark and agency Highdive to turn the State Farm Stanchion Pad into the unlikely centerpiece of a new campaign.

One that's built around visibility, consistency, and long-term brand recognition.

The red State Farm padding behind basketball hoops has quietly appeared during some of the sport’s biggest moments across the NBA, WNBA, and college basketball in the last two decades.

Now, the company is finally giving that courtside real estate a personality.

The campaign introduces the State Farm Stanchion Pad as a talking character who interacts directly with Clark in two new commercials.

It's a sponsorship signage used as background decoration, yes, but it's also proof of how long the company has been showing up around the game.

"We innovated the branding of the basketball stanchion pad nearly 20 years ago, creating a whole new approach to sports marketing," State Farm CMO Kristyn Cook explained.

"The stanchion has stood the test of time, showing up to support the game day in and day out — just like State Farm."

Notably, the campaign also continues the brand’s growing relationship with Clark, who has become one of the biggest commercial faces in basketball.

"The State Farm Stanchion Pad really has been there for all major moments on the court — logo 3s, clutch free throws, and game winners," Clark said.

"Getting back on set with the State Farm team always feels natural, and it was fun to bring this story to life."

As brands look for ways to build stronger long-term brand identity with audiences, it's efforts like these that make longstanding sponsorships feel more memorable.

How the State Farm Pad Steps Forward

The first commercial titled "See Everything" positions the Stanchion Pad as basketball’s ultimate observer, perched behind the basket with a perfect view of the action.

During the exchange, the character tells Clark that both of them can see everything happening on the court, tying the joke back to State Farm’s promise of helping customers find personalized coverage.

Meanwhile,  "Put in the Work" follows Clark during warmups.

The Stanchion Pad then casually strikes up a conversation with the basketball star, comparing her preparation habits to the company’s everyday effort in helping customers manage their insurance needs.

Besides the two spots, State Farm worked with Highdive alongside Optimum Sports, STN Digital, Infinity Marketing Team, OMD, and FleishmanHillard to support a full basketball-focused rollout in time for the WNBA season.

The effort also builds from State Farm’s recent entertainment partnerships, including its Netflix collaboration with "Running Point," where Jake from State Farm appeared directly within the show’s universe.

Together, the campaigns show how the company is moving past your average sponsorship visibility and deeper into character-driven storytelling.

State Farm’s Stanchion Pad Campaign

For advertisers trying to stretch the value of long-running sponsorships, State Farm is giving a lesson on how small assets can actually become one of the most recognizable storytelling tools:

• Familiarity matters. Giving long-running sponsorship assets distinct personalities helps brands stay memorable during crowded sports broadcasts.
• Consistency drives stronger recall.68% of companies said consistent branding contributed to 10-20% revenue growth.
• A fresh, comedic angle can keep sponsorships from fading away. Character-driven campaigns help traditional courtside branding feel more connected to fans and viewers.

In the last fiscal year, State Farm earned an estimated $132.3 billion in annual revenue, and currently sits at 36th on Fortune 500's list of companies. 

Our Take: Are Brands Sitting on Hidden Characters?

State Farm went back and claimed ownership of an often overlooked detail that had been sitting on the sidelines for the past 20 years. 

Anyone who watches basketball has seen that red State Farm pad a thousand times, but nobody ever really paid much attention to it.

Highdive spotted something sitting in plain sight and gave it a voice.

It's a creative move that feels deceptively simple after you’ve seen it, but is much more clever the more you think about it.

Fans are unfazed by logos at this point.

They want recurring personalities, inside jokes, and characters that feel tied to the experience itself, much like Jake from State Farm. 

Somehow, the insurance giant pulled off a Hail Mary and made foam padding part of the conversation.

Recently, ESPN transformed the "Inside the NBA" crew into sitcom-style roommates in a campaign promoting the show’s next chapter.

Brands pursuing ambitious creative need partners who are all in on their ideas. 

Take a look at these top creative agencies in our directory.