With the NBA season starting this week, the league has renewed many of its pending sponsorships. Back in the fold are longtime NBA sponsors Kia and American Express, Gatorade, autotrader.com, Kaiser Permanente and SAP. Taco Bell has not yet renewed, but a league spokeswoman said those negotiations are in “late stages.”
BBVA, a banking category sponsor since 2010, did not renew, after a change in ownership. Sal LaRocca, NBA global partnerships president, pointed out the various financial services and brands supporting league media rights holders, along with the banks competing with the likes of AmEx, a longtime NBA corporate patron.
Meanwhile, a reorganization promoted by the departures earlier this year of Rachel Jacobson, former senior vice president of global partnerships, and Emilio Collins, former executive vice president of global partnerships, sees the NBA’s sponsorship department united with media — where it was many years ago.
Kerry Tatlock, senior vice president of global marketing partnerships, continues to manage and renew corporate sponsorships, but the entire new business team has been merged with the media team, headed by Dan Rossomondo, senior vice president of global media, business development and partnerships solutions.
“Our media platforms and programs are focal points of how sponsors want to activate with us, so we’ve merged those teams,” LaRocca said. Both Rossomondo and Tatlock report to LaRocca.
— Terry Lefton
