The NBA has snagged its final corporate sponsor renewal, with multiple sources confirming last week that McDonald's has agreed in principle to a three-year extension of its NBA rights.
McDonald's is one of the league's oldest "corporate partners," having been an NBA sponsor since 1990. Its contract will be scaled back somewhat this time, with no international, WNBA or NBDL rights included.
Exact pricing could not be determined. One source involved in the negotiations said it was a low seven-figure annual deal, with McDonald's expected to buy separately eight figures or more in media yearly from NBA broadcasters ABC, ESPN and Turner.
Neither McDonald's nor the NBA would comment on this story.
As with many of its other renewals and new corporate partners, the league is emphasizing promotional activation over rights fees. For McDonald's, that is a marked shift, since the fast-food chain has eschewed national sports promotions in recent years in favor of local or regional sports programs, largely financed by the local restaurant owners.
Sources said one of the things persuading McDonald's marketers to use the NBA as a promotional vehicle was a refocusing of the property within the quick-service-restaurant category as more of (but not exclusively) an African-American consumer marketing vehicle.
While the burger giant has done NBA-themed advertising in recent years, it hasn't done any national promos with NBA players for four-plus years. Under the new deal, initial plans call for McDonald's to run three to four national promos annually, with platforms being the season tip-off, All-Star Game, NBA playoffs and possibly the NBA draft.
McDonald's also is expected to buy heavily into the league's Hispanic and grassroots initiatives, including Hoop-It-Up and the Rhythm 'n Rims basketball/live music tour. McDonald's hopes to have a marketing program ready in time to activate around the Feb. 9 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta.
In bagging McDonald's, the league has re-upped 10 of 11 corporate sponsorship deals during a turbulent selling season, during which nearly all of its sponsorship pacts had expired, along with the league's TV agreement.
Also renewed, or in the process of completing contracts, are AT&T, Anheuser-Busch, Novartis' Lamisil, America's Dairy Farmers and Milk Processors, Nestlé and Verizon Wireless. Coke, Gatorade and American Express have signed and announced their renewals.
New NBA sponsors signed are Adidas, Dell, Lego, MBNA and Southwest Airlines. The only sponsor failing to renew was the Fannie Mae Foundation.
