HERZOGENAURACH and NEW YORK – April 11, 2006 – The adidas Group and the National Basketball Association have signed an 11-year global merchandising partnership that will make the adidas brand the official uniform and apparel provider for the NBA, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the NBA Development League (D-League) beginning with the 2006-07 NBA season.
The new merchandising relationship with adidas comes as a result of the Group’s January 2006 acquisition of Reebok International Ltd., the NBA’s exclusive uniform and apparel provider since 2001 and includes rights to sell apparel and casual and performance footwear in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia. Reebok will continue to be a global marketing partner of the NBA and will maintain the ability to create NBA branded footwear.
adidas will design, manufacture, and market products for a wide assortment of unique NBA apparel collections utilizing the latest fabrics and technology featured in adidas branded apparel and footwear.
“As part of the Reebok integration we as a Group made this strategic decision, which we believe will significantly help us to immediately increase the visibility of adidas as a sport performance brand in the U.S.,” said adidas Group CEO and Chairman Herbert Hainer. “In the long term this new 11-year partnership has the power to make the NBA and adidas synonymous in basketball.”
adidas and the NBA will also collaborate at retail with an increased adidas presence at the world’s only NBA Store, on Fifth Avenue in New York City. adidas will create an adidas-NBA concept shop that will be the prototype for additional retail development around the world. In addition, adidas will sell a full range of NBA products throughout its retail locations around the world including the 2,100 adidas stores in China.
“This partnership deepens our relationship with a sports league that continues to soar in global popularity,” said Erich Stamminger, President and CEO of the adidas Brand. “We are building a foundation on which we can grow the sport of basketball globally.”
“The adidas brand is recognized for its excellence in sports heritage and performance on a global basis," said NBA Commissioner David Stern. "NBA and adidas branded apparel and footwear will be available to even more fans around the world continuing our effort to expand the league’s accessibility to anywhere fans can dribble a ball or watch a basketball game.”
adidas and the NBA plan to support the partnership through an integrated mix of global marketing and media initiatives, including NBA Europe Live presented by EA Sports in 2006 and 2007, as well as grassroots events and branded media programs throughout the 215 countries in which the league distributes content.
http://www.nba.com/news/adidas_060412.html
Very interesting, would of preferred Nike but I'm hoping adidas can get us more NBA merchandise here in Australia because they have a better market share and their product is more avaliable but it looks very unlikely due to bball's popularity though its growing of late.