The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Under Armour announced a new agreement on a title sponsorship for the Draft Combine.
According to For the Win, Under Armour will start sponsoring the NBA Draft Combine in 2018, widening the partnership the two already have. Over the next few years, the NBA and Under Armour also plan to up its youth league enrollment to five million kids aged six to 14.
"We're proud to expand our partnership with the NBA and continue our shared commitment to help basketball players everywhere realize their potential, on and off the court," Adam Peake, executive vice president for global marketing at Under Armour, said in a statement. "The new elements of our partnership will allow Under Armour to leverage our leadership in athletic performance innovation and Connected Fitness to foster the worldwide growth of basketball."
Starting with the 2018 combine, Under Armour will supply draft prospects with equipment and will release similar apparel for consumers. The NBA Draft Combine has become must-watch television in recent years, as it features some of the best young basketball players not only coming out of U.S. colleges, but from all over the world.
In this past NBA Draft, three international players were taken within the first 10 selections.
Under Armour is competing with Nike and the Jordan Brand, as well as Reebok and Adidas in basketball apparel, but the company has already secured a major spokesperson in reigning MVP Stephen Curry.
Emilio Collins, the NBA's executive vice president, told For the Win: "Clearly they've done a fantastic job selecting their endorsers and the partnership they have with Steph is something that's fueled a lot of their growth in basketball on the global level and something that has driven so much of the opportunity that we collectively see together on their role in basketball."
