Team Partners with Monarch Commerce to Launch New Merchandise Infrastructure; Nike “Rebel” Edition Uniform and “Homegrown” Collection are First Drops 

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ATLANTA (May 8, 2026) — The WNBA’s Atlanta Dream is once again redefining what’s possible in women’s sports, this time by transforming how fans shop, engage, and connect with the team. Through a first-of-its-kind partnership with Monarch Commerce, a division of Monarch Collective, the Dream is launching a transformational new retail operations engine including a new “Drip Shop” in arena, an online shop designed to deliver a seamless, premium fan experience, and an entirely new back-end model to deliver more curated women’s product to women’s sports fans at scale.  

At the center of this launch is a new product approach: a more intentional, elevated design and silhouettes that reflect how fans want to wear women’s sports merchandise today. 

“The Dream’s partnership with Monarch Commerce started with an insight: women’s sports fans need access to more purposefully designed products and fashion-forward styles that let them rep their favorite team while truly reflecting how they want to live, work and play – and that shouldn’t have to be a zero-sum game,” said Atlanta Dream President and COO Morgan Shaw Parker. “It has been a labor of love working with Jasmine Robinson, Kara Nortman and Samantha Bushy at Monarch to operationalize our vision to push beyond where sports retail has ever been before.”  

A New Era of Retail Innovation 

As the first WNBA franchise to partner with Monarch Commerce, the Dream continues to lead with innovation, setting a new benchmark for women’s sports retail while building a best-in-class ecosystem that reflects the explosive growth of the game.   

Despite growing demand, women’s sports fans still have significantly less access to quality merchandise. While traditional men’s sports models have historically followed a “watch, then buy” funnel, emerging data and market behavior in women’s sports suggest a different dynamic: fans often “rep” the gear first, using merchandise as identity, alignment, and discovery. 

At the same time, much of the current retail infrastructure supporting women’s sports was originally built for men’s leagues and later extended to women’s teams. While this model has enabled baseline access and distribution, it has not fully captured the distinct behaviors, cultural drivers, or identity-based purchasing patterns of women’s sports fans. 

The partnership with Monarch Commerce underscores the Dream’s commitment to pushing boundaries, on and off the court. By investing in forward-thinking retail solutions, the organization is creating new ways for fans to connect with the brand and be part of its momentum. 

“We’re building a retail experience that reflects how fans actually engage - where product, identity, and culture intersect – propelling the category forward,” said Samantha Bushy, Monarch Commerce CEO. “This is about making merch people want to wear in their lives, not just at a game, and opening up new ways to style it.  We are proud to partner with the Atlanta Dream, an organization that continues to lead and inspire across women’s sports.” 

Monarch Commerce brings deep expertise in scaling high-growth brands to the women’s sports space. Backed by Monarch Collective, a $250 million venture capital group and the first fund focused exclusively on women’s sports, the partnership is part of Monarch Collective’s broader commitment to investing in the infrastructure that powers long-term success across the industry. 

First Dream Drop – Nike Rebel Edition Uniform 

First out the gate is the Dream’s “Homegrown” retail collection inspired by Atlanta’s deep community ties and forward momentum.  At the center of this collection is the team’s new Nike Rebel Edition uniform, designed by players.  The Rebel uniform is thoughtfully surrounded with a curated “Homegrown” retail collection spanning everyday fan pieces to more expressive fashion-forward products such as lounge sets, ties, and scarves/bandana styling pieces, alongside in-stadium exclusives and creative pieces like bags upcycled from outdated jerseys. 

Designed by Dream players Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray, the Nike Rebel Edition uniform invites fans to represent not just the team, but the identity of Atlanta.  With black as its foundation to symbolize strength and resilience, the uniform is accented with peach tones to honor Georgia’s heritage and the team’s connection to its community. Thoughtful details bring the story to life, from Atlanta’s iconic area codes woven into the fabric - representing every neighborhood and every fan - to subtle coast blue elements paying homage to the franchise’s origins. 

“It was important to listen to the voice of our athletes, and both Rhyne and Lish truly captured the essence of our city,” said Shaw Parker. “As we celebrate a team that is truly home grown – from the origin of our name voted on by the city to our commitment to our community - we’re doubling down on innovation and authenticity, creating a design that reflects the energy of Atlanta and the passion of our fans.”  

“Being someone who is heavily creative and heavily invested in the things that I wear, to have that mindset and tie this jersey to things that Georgia stands for:  the peach, highlighting the OG blue, was important to me,” said Howard.  “It’s just a testament to repping the city that represents you.  Our fans do a great job of cheering for us and to design a jersey with them in mind is a way for us to give back to our fans.” 

“It’s cool to see our ideas come to life,” said Gray.  “We wanted to make the jersey truly Atlanta, so that’s why the area codes are on the back of the jersey.” 

Fans can expect much more to come. The “Homegrown” launch is just the starting point as the Dream continues to invest in what women’s sports retail can become. 

About the Atlanta Dream 
Established in 2008, the Atlanta Dream is the Southeast’s only WNBA franchise, playing its home games at Gateway Center Arena @ College Park. This year the Dream will play five home games at State Farm Arena, continuing the organization’s commitment to elevating the game on the biggest stages. Dream games are telecast locally on Atlanta News First (WANF-TV) and streamed on Victory+.  Since 2009, the Dream has produced 12 WNBA All-Stars, earned 11 playoff bids and made three WNBA finals appearances. For more information about the Dream, visit atlantadream.com and follow @AtlantaDream on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok. 

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