The NBA’s commercial drive continues less than a month after a shortened season was confirmed to begin on Christmas Day. A new collective bargaining agreement was reached to end a damaging five-month lockout for the league, but it has since moved quickly to announce deals this week with AutoTrader.com, Budweiser, Gatorade and Under Armour.
As part of its new multiyear partnership Sprint will reach the NBA fan base through a wide array of assets, including marquee league events, television and digital exposure, and customised NBA mobile content for its customers. A key element of the Sprint-NBA partnership is the development of a new custom app called ‘Sprint NBA Mobile’ which aims to be the most comprehensive app in the marketplace for NBA fans.
The app will include access to in-game and post-game video highlights, news, scores, stats, live home and away radio broadcasts, in addition to providing direct access to live ESPN NBA games via Sprint TV's ESPN Channel. “Only Sprint delivers the NBA without limits to fans with truly unlimited plans, so fans can watch and listen to live games from their phones or check scores and stats as much as they want without worry,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO.
Sprint will serve as the presenting partner of digital promotion for Christmas Day games and will also be the presenting partner of the NBA All-Star Balloting programme, which allows fans to vote to determine the starters for the All-Star Game. It will also be the title partner of the All-Star Celebrity Game and the All-Star Pre-Game Concert. As part of this partnership, Sprint brand Boost Mobile recently became the first marquee partner of the Women’s NBA and the league's official wireless service partner. As the marquee partner of the WNBA, Boost Mobile is the league's most prominent sponsor.
“NBA fans are leading an increasingly mobile lifestyle, which makes Sprint an ideal partner to help them connect with our game at anytime, from anywhere,” added NBA commissioner David Stern. “We look forward to working with Sprint to provide fans unlimited access to the NBA, beginning with the launch of the new, jointly developed Sprint NBA Mobile application.”