Lakers' new jersey patch sponsorship and Clippers' new arena partner suggest revenue opportunities for the Brooklyn Nets

The NBA's sponsorship deals just keep booming, and that must have Brooklyn Nets management salivating.

First, the uniform patch. The Los Angeles Lakers just announced a "global maketing partnership" with the Korean food company Bibigo, worth (as per Yahoo), according to the Los Angeles Times $100 million over five years.

That includes not just the patch but courtside real estate and other advertising, according to the official announcement. Yahoo noted that the previous sponsor, Wish, paid $12-14 million per year.

And the Nets?

Just last year the Brooklyn Nets announced a new uniform patch partnership with Motorola, surely more lucrative than the previous $8 million a year deal with Infor.

No term was announced, but last May the New York Post reported that the Nets were already seeking a new sponsor, and NetsDaily suggests the deal has already expired. 

If so, the Nets' star power, and likelihood of appearning on TV, suggests that the Nets could compete with the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors, which have a deal that Front Office Sports cites as "reportedly" $20 million a year.

If that happens, maybe the pious prouncements about finding "a company that we felt a cultural alignment with"--as Nets' CEO John Abbamondi said just last December of Motorola--go only so far.

A big arena deal

Steve Ballmer’s LA Clippers strike $500 million-plus arena naming-rights deal with TurboTax owner Intuit, CNBC reported 9/17/21:

Terms of the agreement with the Clippers were not made public, but National Basketball Association sources told CNBC the deal is a 23-year agreement that eclipses $500 million.

That works out to more than $21.7 million a year.

(Note: Intuit can pay that money because it lobbies hard, as ProPublica revealed, "to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free.")

As I wrote last May, if the New York Islanders' new arena at Belmont Park garnered naming rights worth at least (a reported) $15 million a year, that means the Barclays Center deal is a bargain, at $10 million (or so) a year, and might face renegotiation.

The New York Post reported that month that the Nets indeed were looking at new sponsorship deals, which could culminate in the renaming of the arena. 

Afterwards, Joe Tsai, owner of the team and the arena operating company, tweeted, "BSE Global has a great relationship with Barclays. Neither side is looking to change the name of our iconic building."

Well, there's "looking" and there's listening to the offers that might come in. After all, that Motorola alignment might be short-term.

Renaming the arena would have a larger impact, of course, on public consciousness in Brooklyn, given the subway hub naming rights, which would have to be revised, along with a ton of signage

The community play

From the Lakers' announcement:

In addition, the two companies will collaborate on various community initiatives within the greater Los Angeles area including the Lakers “In the Paint” fine art program, which will showcase original works of BIPOC artists and the Lakers Global Mural series campaign which will feature Lakers mural artwork around the world.

...The Lakers and Bibigo will partner together to launch various community initiatives within Los Angeles and outside the US, with basketball court refurbishment projects and local community efforts. The Bibigo patch will also be featured on the South Bay Lakers jersey and become the jersey patch partner of the Lakers 2k gaming team.

I have to bet that such community initiatives mean that the sponsor pays, and the team hustles the media coverage.

From the CNBC article about the Clippers:

The Clippers estimate the Intuit Dome will generate roughly $260 million in annual economic activity for Inglewood, including over 7,000 full-time and part-time jobs. The Clippers also committed to a $100 million community benefits package that will include investments in after-school programs, services for seniors, libraries and housing.