NBA fans will notice a new twist to jerseys this season. Not only does Nike begin their new deal as the official outfitter for the league, many teams will have sponsor patches on their jerseys. According to Forbes, there are 14 teams that will have sponsorship patches on their jerseys this season including the Celtics.
The Celtics have a sponsorship deal with GE. According to Bloomberg, General Electric is paying over $7 million a year for the rights to have their logo displayed on Celtics jerseys.
In a press release announcing the deal, the Celtics noted they were also looking to lean on GE for data on player performance, injury prevention and business optimization.
Celtics president Rich Gotham detailed the partnership in the release.
GE will be woven into the fabric of the Boston Celtics both literally and figuratively. Their leadership in innovation, analytics, and technology will help us to be as competitive as we can be in everything from optimizing our facilities and equipment to player performance. Simply put, GE will make us a better and smarter basketball team and organization.
Here’s a look at the Celtics green uniforms that will feature a white GE patch with green accents.
GE will be Boston Celtics first jersey patch partner beginning 2017-18 season t.co/TyWp8DE6X8
The white jerseys look similar with a reverse color scheme. The GE patch is green with White text.
A sneak peek at the #Celtics jersey with the new GE sponsor patch for next year via @KyleClauss
When the NBA announced the decision to allow sponsorship patches, Adam Silver explained the reasoning to ESPN.
It’s my hope, independent of whatever additional revenues are generated through this patch program, that the greatest impact will be in this amplifying effect of companies choosing to associate directly with a team jersey, then going out and promoting that relationship to the largest market.
According to ESPN, the sponsorship program is expected to generate $100 million in revenue per year. The patch idea is a pilot program which has a three-year window, allowing the league to go back to no patches after three years if they are not pleased with the results.
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Celtics Jersey Patch: Boston Begins Deal With General Electric