Does the NBA have an official grooming partner?
By Ian Levy
The NBA has all sorts of “official” sponsorships for specific products and providers. What’s the strangest “Official [Blank] of the NBA.”
All professional sports are businesses, with revenue generation as their core function. That means advertising is an inescapable part of the NBA deal — commercials, ad placements, stadium naming rights, jersey patches and, of course, official partnerships.
These can bend towards the bizarre but this announcement on Twitter was something new: Manscaped has become the “official below-the-waist grooming partner” of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. It’s an announcement I’d like to immediately disengage from the visual part of my imagination and the quickest way I could think of distracting myself was seeing if the NBA had a similar partner.
They don’t, at least as near as I could tell, but I found as many of the league’s “official” partners for specific products as I could. It’s possible some of these are outdated, as they don’t always announce when a partnership ends and a new “Official HDTV” isn’t necessarily a slot that needs to be filled.
Who are the NBA’s official partners for specific products?
The Official Backboard of the NBA: Spalding
The Official Basketball of the NBA: Wilson
The Official Spirit of the NBA: Hennessy
The Official Sports Drink of the NBA: Gatorade
The Official Timekeeper of the NBA: Tissot
The Official Artificial Intelligence Partner of the NBA: Microsoft
The Official Cloud and Laptop Partner of the NBA: Microsoft
The Official Technology Partner of the NBA: Microsoft
The Official Sock of the NBA: Stance
The Official Motor Oil of the NBA: Mobil
The Official HDTV of the NBA: Haier
The Official Vehicle of NBA Rhythm ‘n Rims: Toyota
The Official Automotive Partner of the NBA: Kia
The Official Jerseymaker of the NBA: Nike
The Official Statistics Provider of the NBA: SportRadar
The Official Cap of the NBA: New Era
The Official Gambling Partner of the NBA: MGM Resorts International
The Official Beer Partner of the NBA: Budweiser
The Official Wireless Sponsor of the NBA: AT&T
The Official Card of the NBA: American Express
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Based on this list it would appear that the NBA is still looking for the following partnerships:
- An Official Hard Seltzer
- An Official Stuffed-Crust Pizza
- An Official Mustache Wax
- An Official Michael Schur Comedy
- An Official Body Glitter
- An Official Brand of Those Antique Bicycles with the Giant Front Wheel and the Teeny Tiny Back Wheel
C’mon capitalists. There is money here, just waiting to be made.