In the week of International Women’s Day, the Los Angeles Clippers has become the latest NBA team to sign a jersey patch partnership by announcing a tie-up with the women-first dating app Bumble.
The basketball team’s alliance with the social network cum dating app where women make the first move is positioned as a statement about and an investment in gender equal, diversity and shared values.
The partnership will not only see the Bumble logo on the Clippers uniforms, but will also see a number of activations: including programmes investing in Los Angeles-area youth, an expansion of the Clippers’ mentoring and educational programmes and community initiatives with a focus on strengthening the skills, confidence and knowledge necessary for young women to achieve their full potential.
The new deal was promoted with content pieces across both organisations’ digital and social platforms that described the Bumble logo as ‘a badge of empowerment’.
The @LAClippers executive leadership boasts more women than any other NBA franchise, including the league’s only female president, Gillian Zucker. (As for our workforce, it’s 85% women, with an all-female C-suite.)https://t.co/xntzIb2nTz pic.twitter.com/JV97ouDWCn
— Bumble (@bumble) March 6, 2018
This partnership is more than a patch.
Proud to stand with @Bumble for diversity and gender equality.
We are #StrongerWithHer.For more info, please visit: https://t.co/1CRln6I2Xk pic.twitter.com/S7hHUk8ek3
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) March 6, 2018
The new Clippers/Bumble alliance will see the latter spend around $20m over three years.
Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd said that she and the company were drawn to both the NBA’s global footprint and values and to the team’s specific commitments to gender diversity.
The Clippers have the largest female leadership team in the NBA and the league’s only woman president in business operations boss Gillian Zucker.
“We saw the opportunity to create change together,” said Wolfe Herd.
“When you see this logo it stands for something more. It stands for empowerment.”
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said that the team had held partnership discussions with several organisations, but found the opportunity for alignment with Bumble fascinating.
“It’s a great opportunity to associate a brand, mostly with women, with sports – and the Clippers,” Ballmer said.
“There just aren’t that many presidents of any sports teams who are women and well-equipped to make that bridge.”
Comment:
The tie-up was announced 48 hours ahead of International Women’s Day: an event several other sports brands and organisations are also activating around (eg Nike’s ‘Until We All Win’ – see case study).
As a league, the NBA is seen by many to be a US sports rights-holder leader in terms of gender diversity. In 2017, the NBA received a B grade for its gender hiring practices from the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (with MLB and the NFL receiving C grades).
Last season, women accounted for 47% of the league’s 127 million US TV viewers and the league already reports a further 16% rise in female viewers thus far this year.
The current 2017/18 season marks the first year that the NBA has allowed ads on players’ uniforms and thus far teams have penned patch partnerships for between $5m and $20m per year.
Among these deals are:
Harley Davidson & Milwaukee Bucks
Goodyear & Cleveland Cavaliers
Rakuten & Golden State Warriors
Links:
Bumble
https://www.facebook.com/bumbleapp/
https://www.instagram.com/bumble/
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/bumbleapp/
LA Clippers
https://www.facebook.com/LAClippers/
https://www.instagram.com/laclippers/
https://www.youtube.com/user/clippers1970
https://twitter.com/LAClippers
