From: ASAP
Adidas has reached a new multi-year marketing partnership with the NBA and WNBA starting with the 2002 WNBA season marking the second new partnership deal inked by the NBA in the past five days.
This partnership provides adidas with multiple avenues for promoting its high performance basketball product, a segment of the industry that has been a priority for the company in recent years. The ability to feature NBA & WNBA superstars in uniform throughout its advertising and promotions provides adidas with authenticity as well as extending the breadth for its marketing initiatives.
adidas recently announced a lifetime endorsement deal with the Orlando Magic's Tracy McGrady and maintains significant endorsement deals with the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant and the Boston Celtics' Antoine Walker.
Under the new agreement, adidas will promote its athletic footwear through the NBA's integrated marketing assets. adidas will utilize their basketball endorsers in NBA and WNBA uniforms in national advertising and promotion in NBA and WNBA telecasts, NBA Inside Stuff television show and magazine, NBA.com, and NBA TV. adidas will also participate in various NBA events including NBA Jam Van, the league's interactive traveling fan experience.
"adidas has been aggressively trying to increase its market share in basketball in the last 12 months," explained Kip Meyer, Director of Sports Marketing, adidas America. "This partnership with the NBA provides authenticity to our marketing strategy and an outstanding variety of platforms for us to deliver our message. The NBA and WNBA have a special relationship with their fans and by teaming with the two leagues, we are confident that we can maximize the ability to showcase our newly advanced products."
"adidas recognizes that the NBA and WNBA reach a diverse audience of passionate basketball fans and that this partnership is an ideal way to drive sales and develop new competitive basketball programs," said Heidi Ueberroth, NBA Entertainment Executive Vice President. "We are excited to have adidas join our roster of NBA and WNBA marketing partners for next season."
With 29 teams in the United States and Canada, NBA games and related programming are broadcast to 210 countries in 42 languages. The NBA is one of the most popular and profitable sports or entertainment properties in the licensing world with NBA league and team products in stores across the globe, on the NBA Store on NBA.com, the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and NBA City in Orlando. The NBA is a recognized leader in sports marketing maintaining a strong roster of fully integrated domestic and global marketing partnerships with the most recognizable brands in the world. For more information on the NBA, visit http://www.nba.com/.
The WNBA tipped off its sixth season on May 25 during Memorial Day weekend. The WNBA concluded the 2001 season by crowning a new champion for the first time in league history and recording the 10 millionth fan to attend a game since the league's inception. During the 2001 season, more than 2.5 million fans attended WNBA games, the most ever, and for the fifth straight season, WNBA regular season attendance averaged more than 9,000 fans. The league's combined local, national and international television coverage reached nearly 60 million fans. WNBA programming is broadcast to 178 countries in 24 different languages. For more information on the WNBA, visit http://www.wnba.com/.
adidas is a global designer, developer and marketer of athletic footwear, apparel and accessories. Our mission is to be the leading sports brand in the world. adidas America is a subsidiary of adidas-Salomon AG, a corporation that also includes sports brands, Salomon, Taylormade, Bonfire and Mavic
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