The virtual jerseys and arenas featured in the NBA 2K League "will be sponsored," according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com. The Cavaliers announced that their team "will wear Cavs Legion Gaming jerseys within the game with a Hot Pockets logo on it." The Knicks' sponsor Chase and new jersey sponsor SquareSpace "will have presence in the virtual arena that the Knicks Gaming team will be in, which will not be called Madison Square Garden." Teams can "sell patches on their virtual jerseys within the game, a logo on the team's basketball court and signage around the arena." Each team "will be responsible for controlling its own virtual signage, but the league does have to approve of the sponsors within the game." In some cases, a team's real jersey patch sponsor has "secured digital rights to the jersey patch" in the team's 2K League, but for many, it is a "new revenue stream." The Bucks, for example, who have Harley Davidson on their actual jerseys, are "currently in the market to sell the virtual patch on their Bucks gaming jerseys for games" (ESPN.com, 12/14). SportsBusiness Journal first reported this in August.
HEAT AND EAT: The Cavaliers earlier this week announced a deal making Hot Pockets the first founding partner of Cavs Legion GC, and NBC’s Seth Meyers said, "Oh good, finally people who play video games will find out about Hot Pockets. That’s right, the logo for Hot Pockets will appear on the Cavaliers jerseys in the video game ‘NBA 2K18.’ Incidentally, ‘2K18’ is also the number of calories in a Hot Pocket” (“Late Night,” NBC, 12/15).
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