The Sacramento Kings have become one of the first NBA franchises to sign an ad sponsor. The team agreed to partner with Blue Diamond, the world’s leading almond brand, per the Kings website.
Here’s a look at what the ad will look like on Kings uniforms, starting next season.
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/785495141805154304
The move to sign Blue Diamond as an ad sponsor — a concept still in its infancy in the NBA — corresponds beautifully with the Kings’ upcoming move into their new digs, Golden 1 Center.
Kings President Chris Granger commented on the burgeoning relationship between the team and Blue Diamond.
“For decades, Blue Diamond almonds have been one of Sacramento’s most well-known products around the country,” said Granger. “We are proud of this community’s history of high-quality agriculture – it’s why we’ve committed to supporting local producers by using locally sourced food in our arena and why our players are proud to showcase the Blue Diamond brand on the court and around the league.”
It’s a nice play for the Kings to choose an agricultural company for their first foray into the jersey advertising market. Sacramento has long been an agricultural hub, which is why so many players have referred to it as a cow town.
Blue Diamond paid $5 million for the right to have the company name plastered onto Kings jerseys.
Kings & 76ers getting $5M each for their jersey ads, means league could pull in more than $190M+ in a single year off this program.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 10, 2016
This advertising on jerseys thing might just become a big thing sooner, rather than later.