NEW YORK: The National Basketball Association made a record $1.46 billion in sponsorship revenue in its 2020-21 regular season, up 6% year-on-year, according to sports partnerships consultancy firm IEG.
“NBA sponsorship revenue is close to reaching the heights of the preeminent National Football League that had total sponsorship revenue US$1.62 billion last season,” said Peter Laatz, global managing director of IEG. “The star power, number of games, variety of sponsorable assets and global popularity of the NBA all contribute to the league’s continued growth.”
IEG also highlighted the role of the NBA’s jersey patch programme in growing the league’s revenue. It noted that sponsorship income for the NBA and its franchises has grown by nearly 70% since the last season before the inventory was introduced.
“Some teams are getting more than $15 million per year for jersey patches and that is close to the $30 million a naming rights sponsorship can bring in annually,” Laatz added.
CNBC, quoting from the IEG study, reports that the NBA saw 13 new deals during its 72-game campaign, including from Microsoft. The tech sector helped the league bring in roughly $115 million per year in new spending. IEG said tech categories, lottery, gaming, telecommunications and banking pay more than $100 million annually for NBA sponsorships.
