$1,000,000,000.
That is, give or take a few quid, the eight-year partnership deal announced by the NBA and Nike.
The sports apparel giants will provide all the on-court uniforms for players from all teams, no matter who their current bib sponsors are or what personal deals the athletes have.
Nike takes over the running of an exclusive agreement between the NBA and adidas that ran from 2006. Nike uniforms will be de riguer from 2017.
An official Nike statement reads: ‘The company has been a global marketing partner of the NBA since 1992. [It] expands its rights over eight years under the new agreement, where it will become the first apparel partner to have its logo appear on NBA uniforms.
‘Nike will also have the global rights to design and manufacture authentic and Swingman jerseys as well as on-court warm-ups and shooting shirts.’
The announcement sees Nike tighten its iron grip on the basketball market in the United States. According to ESPN, ‘Nike and its affiliated brands control more than 90% of the US basketball shoe market at retail.’
To put the size of this deal in perspective, the UFC penned a six-year arrangement with Reebok that earned the MMA organisation $70m.
