NBA Inks Affinity Card Deal With China Merchants Bank

NBA Inks Three-Year Licensing Agreement With China Merchants Bank

China Merchants Bank (CMB) has signed a three-year licensing deal with the NBA to issue the first NBA affinity cards in China, according to John Lombardo of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Terms of the deal, which includes team and league logo rights, were not disclosed, but affinity card deals “typically give sports properties a 10[%] cut of the credit card fees and a 1[%] take of all consumer purchases using the affinity card.” Player rights are not part of the deal. NBA officials said that the agreement “includes a media buy and will feature [POS] promotional rights in 400 branches in major China markets.” Lombardo notes the NBA has not had an affinity card deal in the U.S. since the ’04-05 season when MBNA did not renew its deal (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/21). Also in this week’s SBJ, Terry Lefton cites sources saying that Capital One “is taking a hard look at an NBA sponsorship.” Capital One is “already looking into complementing” the possible NBA deal with naming rights to New Orleans Arena, which are being shopped by Premier Partnerships for about $3M annually (SBJ, 5/21).