Golden State Warriors Ink NBA's Largest Jersey Sponsorship Deal

The Golden State Warriors have officially inked a three-year jersey sponsorship deal, worth a reported $20 million annually, with Japanese tech company Ratuken. According to ESPN's Darren Rovell, the Warriors' $60 million deal with Ratuken is the largest of the NBA advertising patch deals, nearly doubling the second highest sponsorship deal between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Goodyear.

Golden State Warriors chief marketing officer Chip Bowers revealed that the deal with Ratuken wasn't the biggest they were offered, but provided them the best opportunity to grow their global vision.

Per ESPN,

"We actually had multiple finalists," Warriors chief marketing officer Chip Bowers said. "This was not the biggest deal that we were offered."

"We saw an opportunity given the visibility we were receiving," Bowers said. "So we felt in order to grow our global vision, we had to be aligned with a global brand."

Rakuten's red and black logo will be used on the Warriors' white jerseys and a white version of the logo on the blue jerseys. While the company was founded in Japan back in 1997, they have since set up a North American headquarters in San Francisco, which gives them a stronger tie to the Warriors community and the Bay Area.

Rakuten founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani told ESPN they hope the deal with Golden State will help them become a household name like Google and Facebook down the line.

Per ESPN,

"We want to be a household name like Google and Facebook," said Mikitani, whose company brought in $7 billion in revenue in 2016. "Our partnership in Barcelona has helped us in Spain, and the Warriors will certainly be a pillar of getting us there in United States."

The Golden State Warriors will debut their new uniforms on the NBA's opening night, October 17th, in a matchup against the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena. 

GSW