Since it’s the last of 11 seasons for Adidas as the NBA’s uniform rights holder, as the season starts, there’s not much news for on-court licensees.
For marketers of other apparel, it’s another story.
New Era has not yet convinced the league that its familiar 59Fifty fitted caps are as indispensable on NBA hardwood as they are on Major League Baseball’s verdant fields. Nonetheless, as Adidas’ cap rights sunset, New Era has expanded its deal from what was strictly a retro play into a global, top-tier apparel licensee of the NBA, WNBA and D-League.
New Era headwear will get camera exposure at key events like the NBA draft and Finals, through championship
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An expanded deal with the NBA means more caps from New Era.
Photo by: New Era |
locker-room caps, after the 2016-17 season. For the upcoming season, however, New Era will have NBA caps with current logos at retail, with a wider assortment expected at the NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. Mitchell & Ness, along with ’47 Brand, will continue as cap licensees, however, moving forward.
The last two seasons have been back-to-back record years for NBA playoff merchandise sales, undoubtedly a hard bottom line to surpass. The day after the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Finals in June was the largest day ever for sales at both the brick-and-mortar NBA store in New York City and on NBAstore.com.
“Those two teams and those two stars [LeBron James and Steph Curry] just feed off each other and created a lot of fan excitement,” said Chris Brennan, NBA senior vice president of retail development.
In its lame-duck year as master NBA licensee, Adidas will still be operating branded stores at NBA arenas in Brooklyn, Houston, Memphis, Minnesota and New Orleans. Adidas also will be supporting NBA marking platforms, including Chinese New Year, Ene-Be-A, Christmas Day and the NBA All-Star Game with on- and off-court licensed apparel. “We’re confident Adidas will continue to service and chase the business at a high level,” Brennan said.
Under terms of its new NBA master apparel license, Nike is not permitted to have NBA product at retailers until Oct. 1, 2017.
New, tweaked or alternate uniforms will be worn during the upcoming season by the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards. Teams participating in the Hardwood Classic retro uniform program are the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors.
