The National Basketball Association has signed a multi-year global partnership that will make Swiss watch brand Tissot the first official timekeeper of the NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association and NBA Development League.
The agreement marks the first official timekeeping partnership for Tissot with a major North American sports league and the largest partnership in the company’s history of more than 160 years.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Bloomberg news agency said it is worth $200m (€178.1m) over a six-year span running from 2015 to 2020.
Tissot will work with the NBA to develop a state-of-the-art integrated timing system. The new precision timekeeping system, inclusive of Tissot-branded shot clocks, will be implemented across all 29 NBA arenas beginning with the 2016-17 NBA season.
“In basketball every second – or even tenth of a second – can be critical, and this new partnership with Tissot will bring state-of-the-art timing technology to every NBA arena,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.
Additionally, the watch company will receive global league licensing rights for timepieces, watches, clocks, and watch accessories for all NBA teams. Tissot will provide support for the partnership at its retail stores around the world.
The partnership will tip off this week during NBA Global Games 2015-16, which will feature six NBA teams playing seven regular-season and preseason games in six countries. Tissot will also become the official timekeeper and official watch of several marquee league events, including NBA All-Star, NBA Draft, NBA Summer League and NBA Global Games.
As part of the partnership, Tissot will make investments across all NBA teams and league broadcast partners. In addition, Tissot and the NBA will partner on a global basis through events, marketing, media, and the launch of new NBA-themed creative and advertising.
Part of the Swatch group, Tissot currently serves as a global partner of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba).