NBA’s In-Season Tournament Deal Expands Middle East Presence

The NBA has struck a potentially transformative sponsorship agreement that not only opens up two big new pieces of marketing inventory, but also accelerates the league’s burgeoning relationship with the Middle East. 

A multiyear agreement with Emirates will see the Dubai-based airline become the title sponsor of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, which overcame some initial difficulties to become a strong early-season presence on the league calendar. The competition will now be known as the Emirates NBA Cup. 

Emirates patches will also appear on referees’ uniforms starting with the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 18, marking a big step in that largely nascent form of North American sports sponsorship. MLB previously featured umpire jersey sponsorships in 2021 and ’22 with now failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, but this remains largely new ground across the industry. NBA G League referees will begin wearing Emirate patches with that league’s ’24–25 season, and WNBA referees will do the same starting in ’25.

Financial terms of the NBA-Emirates agreement were not disclosed, and it remains to be seen whether the company’s involvement will expand a tournament prize pool that initially stood at about $18 million. But the pact additionally sees the NBA enlarge its relationship with the United Arab Emirates. Already, the league has played preseason games in Abu Dhabi the past two years and plans to return there later this year. Elsewhere in the Middle East, the Qatar Investment Authority purchased a 5% equity stake last year invested in Washington Wizards parent organization Monumental Sports and Entertainment for $200 million, and NBA officials are open to further investment into the sport from the region. 

Emirates has been a fixture elsewhere in global sports, as it holds the stadium naming and jersey rights to the Premier League’s Arsenal FC, jersey rights to La Liga’s Real Madrid, Ligue 1’s Olympique Lyonnais, Serie A’s AC Milan, and Portugal’s S.L. Benfica, as well as sponsorship pacts with three tennis Grand Slams and other events in golf, sailing, cycling, and rugby. 

The NBA deal, however, marks a major entry by the brand into North American sports, and further heightens the conflict between U.S. culture and that in the Middle East. The UAE has been cited by governmental and independent organizations for violations of human rights and free expression, raising complaints of sportswashing through deals such as this. 

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has sought to downplay such discussion, saying last year, “People are a little too dismissive these days about the benefits that come from the commonality around sports.”