New strategic partnership for NBA and Reebok
The National Basketball Association and Reebok International Ltd. have formed a 10-year strategic partnership, under which Reebok will design, manufacture, sell and market licensed merchandise for the NBA, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Basketball Development League (NBDL), the NBA's new minor league.
Commencing with the 2004-05 season, Reebok will have exclusive rights to supply and market all on-court apparel, including uniforms, shooting shirts, warm-ups, authentic and replica jerseys and practice gear for all NBA, WNBA and NBDL teams. With limited exceptions, the company will also have exclusive rights to design, manufacture, market and sell headwear, t-shirts, fleece and other apparel products for all teams in most channels of distributions. In addition, Reebok will develop, market and sell an exclusive line of NBA-branded basketball shoes and expand their line of Reebok Classic fashion products to incorporate NBA-branded apparel.
Prior to the 2004 start of the exclusivity deal, there will be a transition period in the 2001-02 season during which Reebok will be on-court with 11 NBA teams and all WNBA and NBDL teams. This agreement expands to include 19 NBA teams in the 2002-03 season when the company will have exclusive rights to design, manufacture, market and sell replica jerseys for all NBA, WNBA and NBDL teams.
With 29 teams in the United States and Canada, NBA games and related programming are broadcast to 210 countries in 42 languages. The NBA is one of the most popular and profitable sports or entertainment properties in the licensing world, with NBA league and team products in stores across the globe, on the NBA Store on NBA.com, the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and NBA City in Orlando. The NBA has 16 marketing partnerships with the most successful companies in their categories, seven of which are global partnerships. The Association and its teams own and operate the WNBA, the world's pre-eminent women's sports league, and the National Basketball Development League (NBDL), the NBA's official minor league.
