No FTX, no problem. Despite teams like the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors losing their FTX deals, the National Basketball Association posted a record $1.66 billion in sponsorship revenue during the 2022-23 season, 1.3% more than the previous year, according to IEG, the leading authority on sports sponsorships.
TOPSHOT – Atlanta Hawks’ guard Trae Young (2nd-L) attempts a shot during the NBA pre-season basketball match between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, on October 6, 2022. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)
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The $1.66 billion figure includes league, team and arena sponsorship rights fees but excludes media sponsorships from broadcasting and cable television. But the growth rate slowed from the previous year. In 2021-22, the league’s sponsorship revenue was $1.6 billion, 14% higher than 2020-21.
Major new league deals with Sorare and Hisense, jersey patch deals between the Chicago Bulls and Motorola and the San Antonio Spurs and Self Financial, the Heat’s new naming rights deal with Kaseya, and the new global sponsorships from Abu Dhabi preseason games, more than making up for the $20 million lost from the FTX debacle.
IEG reports that the 2022-23 season was the first that the NBA didn’t increase its total number of league partners since the 2018-19 season. The most active companies sponsoring individual NBA teams (non-league sponsors) were socios.com, Toyota, Verizon and Coca-ColaKO, each of whom had at least 20 deals. See the graphic below, courtesy of IEG’s Sponsorship Intelligence Database, for more details.
NBA sponsorship snapshot.
Forbes.
This post originally appeared on Forbes.com
