For the third time since last October, financial service company Robinhood has announced it will put its logo on the jersey of an NBA team. On Tuesday, it added the Miami Heat to an advertising push that also includes the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards.
Robinhood’s trio of jersey partnerships in one league is a fresh take on an advertising method that is altogether a relatively new phenomenon in the United States.
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Until 2017, no U.S. sports league permitted any brand placement on in-game uniforms. Then, the NBA opened the door to the prime real estate for accessing viewers, following in the footsteps of a longstanding practice in international club soccer.
European soccer teams, though, rarely share the same jersey sponsors as others in their league. As a result, the jersey sponsorships become an individualized, identifying endeavor over the lifespan of the partnership. Manchester City, for example, is currently the only Premier League team to promote Etihad Airways on the front of its kit.
Robinhood has taken a different approach in the NBA, becoming the first company with three jersey patches at once.
While holding multiple brand partnerships in a single European soccer league might be rare, some companies, such as Emirates and Red Bull, have successfully adorned the fronts of jerseys for prominent clubs in different leagues at the same time, according to Michael Goodbody, Robinhood’s vice president of marketing and communications.
Goodbody also said Washington, Memphis and Miami have distinct features that Robinhood thought made them worth partnering with simultaneously. “There is a clear business advantage in connecting with multiple fan bases given the vast cultural differences between all three communities and cities,” Goodbody said in an email.
All three deals were facilitated by Klutch Sports Group, and a routine has come together to execute them. Robinhood worked with Klutch even before making the Rich Paul-led company its “agency of record for partnerships in the sports and entertainment sectors” in March 2024.
Last year, Klutch helped Robinhood gain its first NBA…
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