The world of sports has seen an increasing amount of crypto sponsorship and NFTs over the last few years. The NBA is no different. In fact, Crypto partnerships were the second most lucrative sponsorship category for the NBA in 2022.
These Crypto sponsorships were still huge for the NBA last season but fell to third overall behind the technology and telecommunication sectors. These deals are for arena-naming rights and to put their names or logos on the team’s jerseys.
Socios is the most active Binance company in the NBA with 24 team sponsorships. Coinbase, Webull, and Crypto.com are other top spending companies for the NBA.
NFTs, non-fungible tokens, also have made a big splash in the Association. NBA Top Shot was the first non-fungible token for the league. The league added a deal with Sorare, which is a combination of NFTs and fantasy basketball, in 2022. Here is a look at some of the top deals the NBA has in those two spaces.
5 NBA -Crypto and NFT Deals You Should Know
Coinbase’s $192 Million Deal
Coinbase became the first crypto company to ink a deal with the NBA when the sides agreed to a four-year, $192 million deal in 2021. The agreement made Coinbase the exclusive cryptocurrency platform of the Association, WNBA, NBA G-League, NBA 2K League and USA Basketball. As part of the deal, Coinbase is the presenting partner for the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup and the USA Basketball men’s and women’s national team exhibition tours.
Additionally, Phoenix Suns star forward Kevin Durant is associated with Coinbase as an investor and endorser. Durant is involved with Coinbase’s NFT’s drops.
Crypto.com and the Los Angeles Lakers
Also, in 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers sold the naming rights to their home arena to Crypto.com for $700 million in a 20 year deal. Meaning, the Lakers generate about $35 million from the biggest naming rights deal in sports history. However, the Lakers could be receiving more as the value of the agreement has been under reported, according to Russell Silvers, Chief Operating Officer of AEG Global Partnerships.
Whatever the actual value of the deal with Crypto.com, it is considerably more than the Lakers were receiving from Staples. Originally known as the Staples Center when it opened in 1999 as the Lakers received $100 million over 10 years from the national office supply store. In 2009, Staples acquired the naming rights in perpetuity.
So, how huge is the Lakers deal? In comparison, SoFi paid $625 million over 20 years for the right to have their name on the stadium that houses the Los Angeles two NFL teams.Meanwhile, Intuit will shell out $500 million over 23 years to have their name on the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers (2024).
Webull and the Brooklyn Nets
Webull, a New York-based independent brokerage firm focused on online trading, have been partners with the Brooklyn Nets since 2021. The Webull deal provides BSE Global, the owner of the Nets, $30 million a year income to allow the company to put their name on the team’s jerseys. This jersey deal surpasses the Golden State Warriors pact with Rakuten, which was worth $20 million.
As part of the agreement, Webull’s name is on BSE Global’s other properties jerseys including the Long Island Nets (G-League), New York Liberty (WNBA) and Nets Gaming Crew (NBA 2K League).
NBA Top Shot
NBA Top Shot, produced by Dapper Labs, was the NBA and NBAPA’s first foray into NFTs NBA Top Shot allows basketball fans to buy, sell and trade basketball video clips called Moments. Following the agreement with the NBA, Top Shot became one of the breakout apps of the NFT craze.
These Moments do have value and can be sold by owners for a nice profit depending on rarity.. While users of NBA Top Shot do get a free pack for joining the platform, they do have to pay for individual cards or other packs. A “starter” pack can be purchased for $9.
Users of NBA Top Shot can also earn two single Moments packs by completing challenges.
Sorare’s Deal With the NBA
In the NBA’s newest venture,the league and NBPA teamed up with Sorare for a multi-year deal beginning last season. This pact made Sorare the NBA’s Official NFT Fantasy Partner.
Sorare is a free NBA free-to-play fantasy game leveraging collectibles backed by non-fungible technology. It allows users the ability to create a lineup of NFT-based digital collectibles representing their favorite players and teams to earn points based on the real-life performance of NBA players.
Players own the cards they receive. Players can also buy or win limited edition player cards, which will help them compete in exclusive tournaments, and there are prizes for the top players in tournaments. Some of the rewards include Eth/cash or Sorare coins to strengthen their teams. Additionally, users can sell the cards that they have on the platform’s marketplace.
“Our partnership with Sorare will give NBA fans an entirely new way to engage with our teams and players,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said at the time the agreement was made. “With Sorare’s emerging NFT fantasy platform, we see significant opportunities to broaden our community of fans and grow NBA basketball around the world.”
At the end of 2022, Sorare had over 3 million players. Sorare also has licensed deals with the MLB, MLS, and several European football leagues.
Main Image: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
