Sportswear giant NIKE will be the exclusive on-court uniform and apparel provider for the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) for another 12 seasons.
Through the long-term extension, unveiled yesterday (October 21), the brand will be the global outfitting, merchandising, marketing, and content partner of the competitions, including the NBA G League, until 2037.
Nike will continue to design and manufacture NBA, WNBA, and G League uniforms, on-court apparel, and fan apparel.
The US firm initially took over from German giant Adidas as the NBA’s jersey provider at the start of the 2017-18 season in an eight-year deal due to expire at the end of the upcoming 2024-25 campaign.
That agreement, worth around $1 billion, marked the first time an apparel partner had its logo on an NBA or WNBA jersey.
By comparison, Adidas’ deal was valued at $400 million over 11 years.
Sal LaRocca, the NBA’s president of global partnerships, told CNBC: “From our perspective, we have 100% confidence in Nike on a long-term global basis.
“They’re endemic to basketball. They’ve been a partner of ours in one form or another for well over 30 years.”
With the key NBA renewal, Nike maintains its dominance in the US sports market as it also serves as the official uniform supplier of the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB).
The NFL’s deal with Nike expires after the 2027 season, but the league has opened up the process to other bidders and is already in talks with several companies interested in competing for the agreement, according to CNBC.
Nike’s contract with the MLB, meanwhile, does not expire until 2029.
The brand has had a marketing partnership with the NBA since 1992 - and with the WNBA since its 1997 founding — and endorses most of the league's biggest players, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Caitlin Clark, and Sabrina Ionescu.
The NBA extension comes at a crucial time for Nike with the global sportswear and sports equipment giant’s leadership transitioning from retiring president and chief executive John Donohoe to Elliott Hill.
Nike also recently posted a 10% fall in revenues in the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year.
The extension includes a pledge from both the leagues and the sportswear company to facilitate youth basketball leagues. Both sides will also invest programing and resources specifically aimed at increasing access to the sport worldwide.
Existing programs, including the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), Jr. NBA, Basketball Without Borders (BWB), and Her Time to Play will continue to be supported and expanded.
Nike and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) also extended their group license agreement making the brand an official partner of the NBPA.
The Oregon-based company will further grow its presence across marquee league events, including NBA Global Games, NBA All-Star, WNBA All-Star, the NBA and WNBA drafts, and the Summer League.
The new deal was struck on the eve of the new NBA season, with the reigning champions the Boston Celtics tipping things off tonight against the New York Knicks, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers’ clash with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
