Nike Inks Deal with NBA, will Outfit Players from 2017 Onwards

With adidas opting not to renew its contract with NBA, Nike swooped in to take over the exclusive rights to provide jerseys and other on-court clothing for the league’s players.

Image via Nike

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Nike have inked an eight year global merchandising and marketing partnership, making Nike the official on-court apparel provider for all the NBA teams and players. The deal, rumored to be worth US$1 billion, means that the Oregon-based company will have the rights to design and make jerseys, warm-up kits and shooting shirts, starting from the 2017-18 season.

This isn’t the first time Nike has usurped adidas as the sponsor of a major U.S. sports league. Back in 2012, it took over the National Football League (NFL) license for uniforms and apparel from adidas-owned Reebok.

For now, NBA players will still don jerseys from adidas, as the German sportswear brand’s contract expires only in 2017. According to an earlier report by Bloomberg, adidas opted not to renew their 11-year partnership with NBA, citing plans to place more emphasis on developing new products and sponsoring individual players instead.

All’s fair in love and war, and it”ll definitely not be the last time you see these two sportswear giants take on each other to increase their market share.