Drake and Nike are launching a sub-label, NOCTA, inspired by the rapper’s nocturnal creative process. Drake teased the partnership in his “Laugh Now, Cry Later” music video released in August that was shot at the Nike Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.

The two parties previously teamed up this year for a capsule collection when Drake announced the release of his upcoming “Certified Lover Boy” album. NOCTA will go on sale on Dec. 18 and include “functional, comfortable” apparel that is “adaptable from one environment to the next.” 

Full Circle:

• “Growing up Nike was everything. It felt like every shoe I wanted, every athlete I liked, everything I owned was Nike,” Drake said in an essay about NOCTA. “It didn’t mean anything unless it had a Swoosh.” 
• He added that he always felt like there was an opportunity for Nike to “embrace an entertainer the same way they had athletes.” 
• Drake previously signed with Nike’s Jordan Brand in 2013, releasing apparel and sneakers in collaboration with his OVO record label. 
• Nike has been a topic in several Drake songs and verses, including “Jumpman” in 2015 and “Sicko Mode” in 2018, where he said he was “checks over stripes.”

The financial terms of Drake’s deal were not disclosed, but fellow rapper Kanye West’s long-time partnership with Adidas for his Yeezy sneaker line could provide some insight: the brand did $1.5 billion in 2019 sales, of which West reportedly gets more than a 10% cut. 

The NBA will have one of its most important game days less than a week into the 2020-21 season: Christmas.

Holiday Ball

Since the NBA’s current TV deals began in 2002, Christmas has produced the league’s highest-rated regular season game each year. In 2008, the day’s slate of games was expanded to five.

This year’s matchups, which will all be aired on either ABC or ESPN, are: 

• New Orleans Pelicans at Miami Heat (noon ET)
• Golden State Warriors at Milwaukee Bucks (2:30 p.m. ET)
• Brooklyn Nets at Boston Celtics (5 p.m. ET)
• Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Lakers (8 p.m. ET)
• Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets (10:30 p.m. ET)

The NBA estimated it would generate around $500 million in additional revenue by starting the 2020-21 season before Christmas thanks to lucrative broadcast deals for the holiday.

Schedule Shuffle

The rest of the regular season schedule is trickling out — the first half is expected to be released in full later this week and the second half about 30 games into the season. 

• Opening night will feature Golden State Warriors vs. Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers vs. Los Angeles Lakers. 

• There will be only 72 regular season games, down from the typical 82. 
• As an attempt to limit travel, teams are expected to play “baseball-style” series against opponents, with multiple consecutive games in the same city against the same team. 

Teams will also play three times against every other team in their own conference, rather than the usual four games against 10 conference opponents and three against the rest.

Mobile game developer and publisher GreenPark Sports has secured a $14 million Series A round — and a multi-year deal with the NBA.

The company was founded in 2018 by YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, Zappos co-founder Nick Swinmurn and BLITZ co-founder Ken Martin in an effort to “reimagine the role of today’s digitally-native fan.”

Along with existing investors SignalFire and Sapphire Sport, the Series A round included:

• Sinclair Broadcasting
• Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube
• John Burbank, Passport Capital
• Courtney Reum, co-founder of investment group M13
• Galaxy Interactive
• ADvantage

“May the best fan win.”

Users will be able to compete in challenges against other NBA team fans, with avatars outfitted in NBA gear, in “the metaverse for sports fans” when the app launches in early 2021.

GreenPark is also launching a similar game in partnership with the League of Legends Championship Series next year.

Big Opportunity: Mobile accounted for 60% of the global video game market in 2019, generating $49 billion in revenue from 1.36 billion gamers. The segment is projected to grow to $56.6 billion by 2024.