The Celtics this morning officially announced their jersey patch deal with GE, the third NBA team to sell advertising on their uniform. The three-year deal, which follows the 76ers' deal with StubHub and the Kings' deal with Blue Diamond as teams with jersey patch ads, also makes GE the official data and analytics partner for the team. Other assets include digital and social content and in-arena signage. GE will also help the Celtics integrate the company’s technology at the new practice facility to open in '18. The Celtics partnered with WME-IMG’s global partnerships group on the deal. Financial terms were not disclosed. “We did not take lightly putting a logo on the uniform,” said Celtics President Rich Gotham. He added the deal is "based on technology and innovation to create a more competitive business for the Celtics.” WME-IMG co-President Mark Shapiro said that deal took about six months to complete. Shapiro: “We approached it as a true stadium naming rights deal with opportunities that arguably are greater than putting your brand on the building” (John Lombardo, Staff Writer). ESPN.com's Darren Rovell noted teams are "expected to use terms of the Celtics deal to help better set the rest of the marketplace." The Warriors reportedly are asking for $15-20M a year for a spot on their jerseys (ESPN.com, 1/24). In Boston, Chesto, Vaccaro & Washburn in a front-page piece cite a source as saying that the Celtics-GE deal is a "multimillion-dollar marketing relationship that will involve a number of elements, including work in the community." The deal will give GE -- the largest public company HQ'd in Boston -- a "new level of public exposure in its new home city." GE's most "prominent sports sponsorship work in recent years has been its involvement" with the IOC, as it has been a TOP sponsor since '06 (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/25).
WHAT WOULD RED SAY? Celtics F Al Horford said he hopes the GE deal is not the precursor to having jerseys "covered with the 20 logos like the international teams do." Horford: "Hopefully we won’t get 20. Then you won’t understand that the Celtics are there." But Celtics C Kelly Olynyk does not believe sponsor logos on jerseys is "that big a deal." He said, "It doesn’t affect the game. Everywhere else in the world, national team stuff. With soccer teams, you don’t know what team it is." Olynyk added, "Are they going to change us from Boston Celtics to the GE Celtics? That would be crazy" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/25).
