If there’s something the NBA is famous for, apart from their amazing athletes, it’s the millionaire sponsorship deals players and teams sign every year. These types of sponsorships are so common now that nobody is surprised by them anymore. Having said that, some recent innovations and market changes have brought some surprising new deals.
Los Angeles Lakers Multi-Million Dollar Patch
Surprisingly, last year Korean food brand Bibigo signed a five-year deal with Los Angeles Lakers. The purpose? To have their brand featured in a small patch on the team’s jersey. This may sound normal for European football fans, but this is the first deal of this magnitude when it comes to uniform-based sponsorships in the NBA.
Brooklyn Nets Record-Breaking Deal
When people think about the NBA, they tend to picture the Chicago Bulls or the Lakers, however, the impressive Brooklyn Nets just signed a record-breaking sponsorship deal. The team has signed a deal with Webull, a financial platform, for $30 million dollars a year to be the official sponsor of their jersey. The record-breaking deal comes as a result of the recent rise in popularity of the team, which ensures an increase in viewership for the next couple of years.
Golden State Warriors NFTs
Player-focused NFTs have proven to be a highly profitable endeavor, especially when it comes to NBA stars, which is why the next deal doesn’t come as a surprise. The Golden State Warriors recently signed a deal with FTX.us, a cryptocurrency marketplace, to mint and trade official NFTs. It’s not clear yet what exactly can be expected from this partnership, but it’s very likely we will start seeing virtual cards and team-related digital art being released.
Stephen Curry’s Multiversal Sneakers
NBA players’ collaborations with designers to release highly anticipated sneakers are not new. However, these types of deals allow fans to actually wear a physical pair of sneakers. Well, Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry decided to release pairs of digital sneakers mimicking the shoes he used while breaking his 3-point scoring record. However, these are not simple NFTs. In fact, these digital sneakers will be able to be worn by their owners in multiple meta-verse platforms.
The NBA’s and Coinbase’s Deal
Probably one of the most impactful sponsorship deals however is the one between the National Basketball Association and the crypto trading company Coinbase. The deal involves most NBA brands, from the WNBA to the NBA 2K League. The specific details of the sponsorship have not been released yet, but given the high level of competition for sponsoring a brand as big as the NBA, and the recent push of cryptocurrency companies to get sponsorship deals, chances are it will probably involve hundreds of millions of dollars.
Socios’ Fan Tokens
Fan tokens are cryptocurrency-based coin that provides owners with different benefits. These tokens may allow fans to access exclusive deals, and even participate in votes regarding different team decisions. The idea has caught on, especially in sports watched around the world, like basketball and football. So far 26 NBA teams have signed with the blockchain-based fan tokens platform Socios. As a result, fans from all around the world can show support for their team, and get in contact with other token owners.
Clothing lines and sneaker collaborations will always be part of the basketball business. But, as we have seen, new and interesting contracts are being signed every month. In order to stay up to date with the changes taking place, it has become necessary to pay attention to the most recent technological innovations, like metaverse wearables and fan tokens.
image credit: wikipedia
