The Los Angeles Clippers have officially announced a jersey patch deal with Bumble, the popular dating app that allows women to control the conversation by requiring them to message first. According to the press release, the Clippers are referring to the new Bumble logo that will appear on their jerseys as an "empowerment badge."
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer says the partnership will be "expanding programming toward furthering women in the workplace, including building a strong mentoring network." According to ESPN's Darren Rovell, the Clippers' Gillian Zucker is the NBA's only female president of business operations, and the team has several top positions occupied by women including director of business development, chief financial officer and director of strategic partnerships.
"We wanted to do something where we could really stand out and do something meaningful," Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said. "The way it is positioned it becomes part of the game, so it's an opportunity to have more meaning for everybody."
"We've had tremendous respect for the team that Steve built," said Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble. "The amount of women he has in leadership positions is not something you typically see in sports."
The Clippers will debut their new Bumble jerseys tonight as they host the New Orleans Pelicans in a game that will air on TNT. There are now only 10 teams in the NBA without jersey sponsorship deals, according to Rovell, including the Bulls, Wizards, Thunder, Rockets, Pacers, Mavericks, Suns, Grizzlies, Trail Blazers and Spurs.