Sprint officials "told the NBA last Wednesday that the company will not renew" its
four-year, $222M sponsorship signed during the '11 lockout that was then the largest sponsorship deal in league history, according to Terry Lefton in this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. That deal included NBA and D-League rights, along with WNBA and D-League partnerships, and status as the first “marquee partner” for the WNBA, which included branding on all jerseys. Similar to its rationale in exiting NASCAR after next season, Sprint "is focusing its energy and resources on network infrastructure improvements." As for a replacement, sources said that "even before Sprint officially walked, the NBA wireless rights were being shopped." T-Mobile "was an agile and aggressive NBA marketing partner when it was a league sponsor" from '05-11. The question "is whether T-Mobile, now in the third year of a three-year sponsorship with MLB, will renew, and further, whether the 'uncarrier' would then take on an additional sports sponsorship, when it has always focused on a singular property." Sources said that there has "been some talk about bifurcating the wireless telecom category into separate packages of content and marketing rights" (
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/13 issue).
