The Golden State Warriors have boosted sponsorship revenue by 20 percent as the team cashes in on an offseason that brought superstar free agent Kevin Durant to the Bay Area.
The increase includes $10 million in new sponsorship revenue along with another $10 million in renewed deals signed since June when the Warriors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
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Sponsors’ dollars have welcomed Golden State’s signing of All-Star Kevin Durant.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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The sponsorship revenue increase does not include any portion of the team’s 20-year naming-rights deal signed with Chase in January for the team’s new arena expected to open in 2019.
“In a 70-day window we are seeing double-digit revenue increases in growth,” said Chip Bowers, the Warriors’ chief marketing officer. “It has been a whirlwind.”
Though team officials would not disclose specific new deals, so far this offseason the team has added 12 new partners, renewed nine partners and extended deals with five others.
Last season, the Warriors had a total of 79 sponsorship deals, operating with a strategy to sign fewer but more valuable agreements compared with other NBA teams that typically have more than 100 sponsorship deals.
“We have a less-is-more philosophy and we want fewer partners with deep engagement,” Bowers said. “We have a lot of deals that have high activation platforms.”
The Warriors soon will add to their sponsorship haul with the team currently negotiating a few founding partner deals for the $1 billion Chase Center planned to open in San Francisco in 2019.
“We are focused on making sure we have a good runway to tell the story of what we are looking to accomplish at the Chase Center,” Bowers said.
Then there are ongoing discussions the team is having with potential partners for a jersey patch deal beginning with the 2017-18 season. No jersey patch deal is imminent, but Bowers said the team is in active talks for a deal that could command up to $10 million.
The new sponsorship revenue comes during an offseason of prosperity for the Warriors, who have renewed their season-ticket base at 99.5 percent. According to the team, only 23 seats out of the 19,596 at Oracle Arena were not renewed this offseason. The Warriors, who cap season-ticket sales at 14,500, also have increased their season-ticket waiting list to 32,000, up from 26,500 at the end of last season.
Other offseason franchise numbers of note: The Warriors have sold more than 7,000 Durant jerseys since he signed with the team in July. Also, the Warriors now have more than 20 million social media followers, joining the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers as the four NBA teams to have more than 20 million followers.
“We are using this place and time to leverage what is going on,” Bowers said. “Getting Durant has set us up for some tremendous success.”
