The National Basketball Association’s 2021-22 season kicked off this week with a slate of marquee games designed to bring fans back to the arenas. It’s the first season since 2019 that the league has held games in arenas almost entirely, now that covid-19 cases have slowed in some cities and vaccines are widespread in the United States.
Since the league is no longer playing games in a bubble or empty arenas and the fans are once again part of the show, we can focus on some of the more fun details of the game. This includes paying attention to sponsors who pay to rent a small advertising space on each player’s shoulder. This year’s list of shirt sponsors represents a wide range of business interests which are, in many cases, aligned with the city and team the company has chosen to represent.
According to a report, NBA sponsorship revenue has grown 70% since the introduction of the jersey patch option in 2017, with some jersey sponsorship deals exceeding $15 million annually. From crypto exchanges to banks and even food companies, the cohort of companies gracing the chests of your favorite NBA stars is a mix of historic names and obscure brands you’ve probably never heard of. Note: The Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards have yet to confirm sponsors for the new jersey.
| NBA team | Jersey Sponsor | What theyre doing | vibration |
| Atlanta Hawks | Sharecare | Health care | Live fast, live young |
| Boston Celtics | Vistaprint | custom branding | Bookish beast mode |
| brooklyn nets | Webbull | stock and crypto exchange | Start-ups and renovations |
| Charlotte Hornets | LendingTree | online loans | promises, promises |
| Chicago Bulls | Zenni Optics | eyeglasses | Jordan gone, take the Lasik |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Good year | tires | Blue collar and proud |
| Dallas Mavericks | Carillon | online banking | young money |
| Denver nuggets | Western Union | money transfers | Gold in these hills |
| Detroit Pistons | United Wholesale Mortgage | mortgage lender | Return, rebuild, return |
| Golden State Warriors | Rakuten | e-commerce, shopping | The future |
| Houston Rockets | credit karma | credit scores | Analytics as culture |
| Indiana Pacers | Motorola | mobile hardware and software | Hoosier Technology |
| Los Angeles Clippers | Dear | e-commerce discounts | The B-list, baby! |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Bibigo | South Korean food brand | Hollywood Squid Games |
| Memphis Grizzlies | To be determined | ||
| miami heat | Kronos Ultimate Group | HR software | “Florida Man” in the Cloud |
| Milwaukee dollars | Motorola | mobile hardware and software | Cold Brew Champions |
| Minnesota Wolves | Will have | data security | blue computer |
| New Orleans Pelicans | Ibotta | e-commerce discounts | Seems sketchy, but legit |
| New York Knicks | square space | website builder | 404 error, but Broadway! |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | love stores | convenience stores | Family first |
| Orlando Magic | disney world | amusement park | Smoke and mirrors |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Crypto.com | crypto exchange | FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) |
| Phoenix Suns | PayPal | online payments | cash desert |
| Portland Trail Blazers | StormX | crypto ecommerce offers | Money loot on the internet |
| Sacramento Kings | Numeric keypad | voice and video communications | In the weeds, but relevant |
| San Antonio Spurs | Frost Bank | banking | Boring and proud |
| Toronto Raptors | Sun Life Financial | life insurance | At least Drake loves us |
| Utah Jazz | Qualtrics | online data analysis | Nerds ‘R Us |
| Washington Wizards | To be determined |
