The Warriors are the latest NBA team to reach an agreement with a sponsor for jersey advertisements, and the terms of that deal are eye-popping. As Darren Rovell of ESPN details, the Warriors’ jersey three-year sponsorship agreement with Japanese tech company Rakuten is worth $20MM annually, which nearly doubles the second-most valuable deal signed so far — the Cavaliers’ agreement with Goodyear is said to be worth about $12MM per year.
“We actually had multiple finalists,” Warriors chief marketing officer Chip Bowers said, per Rovell. “This was not the biggest deal that we were offered. … We saw an opportunity, given the visibility we were receiving. So we felt in order to grow our global vision, we had to be aligned with a global brand.”
The Warriors can’t put that $60MM commitment from Rakuten – which owns cash-back site Ebates, messaging app Viber, and e-book brand Kobo – directly toward team salary. However, as Mark Medina of The Bay Area News Group writes, a deal of that magnitude can indirectly help the franchise build its roster.
Here’s more from out of the Bay Area:
- After Kevin Durant said on Bill Simmons’ podcast last month that “nobody wants to play in Under Armours,” Stephen Curry – Under Armour’s top endorser – had a conversation with his teammate to clear the air. “This is nothing that is going to put a wrench in the locker room,” Curry told Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer.
- Having just signed a new five-year deal with the Warriors, Curry will be under contract through age 34, and he says that he hopes to play for a few more years beyond that. As Fowler details in the Observer piece linked above, Curry’s goal is to at least match the 16 years that his father Dell Curry spent in the NBA. So far, the eight-year veteran is halfway to that point — the 2024/25 season would be his 16th.
- Within his latest mailbag, Anthony Slater of The Athletic addresses that “brand battle” between Curry and Durant, while also discussing Andre Iguodala‘s Hall-of-Fame chances, the Warriors’ biggest weakness, and much more.
Hope the discussion on Iguodala’s Hall of Fame chances was a short one.
I felt the same about T-Mac
Love both of them but I don’t think either should be there. T-Mac has a much better case than iggy but still neither should.
T-Mac definitely should be a HoF in my opinion. If the Rockets could’ve stayed healthy with him and Yao, and he won a championship, would your opinion be different? I just feel it would be disrespectful to leave him out because he got hurt a lot. Grant Hill is still a HoF in my opinion, Vince Carter too. McGrady definitely has a place in NBA history and I think he was HoF worthy. 15 year career, led the league in scoring twice, 7 time all star and career 19.6/5.6/4.4 player, most of which is brought down by his rookie and sophomore years and post prime and knee injury years. 24.4/6.3/5.2 from 1999-2009. Name anyone non Hall of Famer with that 10 year stretch
t-mac was my favorite player growing up, but i dont think he deserved it either. when i think of HoF i think unquestionably a great to ever do it. he had an amazing stretch for sure, but because of the injuries, he hurt his case. were not talking about what he couldve done, were talking what he did do.
This isn’t baseball, but even if it was, he would be a borderline guy, and probably get in after 5 or 6 years. In basketball, he is unquestionably a first ballot HoFer
I wonder what the sweepstakes for Curry are gonna be like when he’s older and becomes a spot up shooter and role player. It’ll be crazy seeing him sign a veteran minimum deal at age 36 to play for a team led by the next generations star players. Like I grew up watching Kobe I’ll feel so old when that day comes lol
Curry will never get a veteran minimum contract in his life. Hes bound to make no less than 20mil a year til he retires unless he pulls a Dirk or Spur move and says I already got paid, get great players to help me compete for a championship.
You are probably right that he will never get the vet’s minimum, but don’t assume he will always be making max dollars either. Steve Nash is a pretty good comp and he ended his career making about 40% less than he did at his peak.
Yes, but Nash never won multiple championships and was the face of brand.