Basketball

US sporting goods manufacturer Nike last month became the fifth Global Partner of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba). As part of the deal, Nike also becomes Fiba’s exclusive partner in the sports apparel and sports shoe product categories and the Title Partner of Fiba’s World Ranking.

Workwear manufacturer Engelbert Strauss has added to its sponsorship presence in continental competitions this month, signing up as the Presenting Sponsor of the fledgling Basketball Champions League under a one-and-a-half-year agreement.

German banking group ING-DiBa has renewed as the main sponsor of Germany’s national basketball and national wheelchair basketball teams at roughly the same fee as the previous deal, despite the retirement of the brand’s long-term brand ambassador, Dirk Nowitzki, from international basketball at the start of this year.

Oil and gas company ExxonMobil has doubled up on its non-motorsports portfolio, again in basketball, securing a multiyear deal with the National Basketball Association.

Mobile phone manufacturer Vivo’s growing Chinese market share was key to its deal to become the Official Mobile Phone Partner of the NBA in China and replace domestic rival ZTE.

Sports Sponsorship Insider has completed a survey of sponsorship deals across the top three global basketball leagues – the National Basketball Association, the Chinese Basketball Association and the EuroLeague/EuroCup competitions – selected European leagues and associated teams.

App-based taxi network Uber has signed as the Exclusive Ride-Sharing Partner of the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards and Verizon Center under a three-year deal, from mid-2016 to mid-2019.

Euroleague Basketball has signed online sportsbook Tempobet as the Official National Betting Partner in Germany, from 2016-17 to 2018-19, for both EuroLeague and EuroCup competitions – the fifth such regional agreement made by EuroLeague with an online betting company.

Telecommunications company Orange has chosen basketball for its first sponsorship agreement in Belgium in order to support the brand’s launch in the market.

A clutch of sponsorship deals was agreed this month by clubs from Italy’s top two basketball leagues, all with values in the low hundreds of thousands of euros. The relatively low value of the deals shows how far the sponsorship market has collapsed for Italian club basketball over the last decade.

A rejig of Euroleague Basketball’s EuroCup format and higher broadcast production values helped the competition secure its first title sponsor, food brand 7Days, on a three-year contract.

Turkish beer brand Efes aims to strengthen its brand image as a premium beer brand through its Euroleague sponsorship.

International sports properties provide a key platform to create positive brand associations for the Turkey’s national flag carrier Turkish Airlines.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) expects to at least double its sponsorship revenues in the first cycle of its recently-revamped sponsorship structure for national team matches, and to enjoy substantial cycle-on-cycle growth, through to 2031.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) expects to at least double its sponsorship revenues in the first cycle of its recently-revamped sponsorship structure for national team matches, and to enjoy substantial cycle on-cycle growth, through to 2031.

Porsche-owned consultancy firm MHP has renewed its title deal with German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) club Riesen Ludwigsburg as teams continue to rely on local companies for their top deals.

EuroBasket 2015 presented by Beko took place in Croatia, France, Germany and Latvia. it was broadcast in more than 100 countries and registered a cumulative TV audience of 189m1. It was attended by 711,131 spectators, an increase of 116 per cent on the 2013 edition.

Fiba, world basketball's governing body, expects its Global Partner programme for the next cycle to bring in increased revenue, following its deal with the Chinese state-owned conglomerate Beijing Enterprises.