The NBA Chicago Bulls have signed their first global sponsorship deal, reaching a seven-year agreement with Poland-based online currency exchange Cinkciarz.pl. The company markets to corporate institutions and individuals. Team officials noted Chicago has the largest Polish community outside of Poland. Cinkciarz.pl will serve as the official foreign currency exchange of the Bulls, a new category for the team. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal gives Cinkciarz.pl in-arena and digital branding, courtside signage and hospitality (John Lombardo, Staff Writer). In Chicago, Danny Ecker reported the deal "could open up a new, lucrative sponsorship front for the franchise." Bulls President & COO Michael Reinsdorf last year sent VP/Corporate Sales Scott Sonnenberg and Senior Manager of Business Development Will Syring "on an expedition to Poland to meet with company officials when it became clear they would be expanding to Chicago." Reinsdorf: "We needed to show them that we had a real commitment to learning about their business." Ecker noted after "nearly a year of negotiating," signage is now "set to be displayed around the United Center during games, as well as on the team's mobile app." The financial terms of the agreement "will help provide a blueprint for what Reinsdorf hopes will be a series of internationally headquartered companies that want to use the recognizable Bulls trademarks in their marketing efforts" (CHICAGO BUSINESS, 10/5).
