How the world’s media reacted to Rakuten’s partnership with the Golden State Warriors
Last week, Rakuten announced an historic multi-year partnership with the NBA’s reigning champions, the Golden State Warriors, to become the team’s first-ever jersey-badge partner.
The announcement garnered attention not just on social media, but across media outlets around the world. Here is a quick round-up of the top headlines.
ESPN – WARRIORS SIGN JERSEY-PATCH ADVERTISING DEAL WITH RAKUTEN
“The Warriors will sport Rakuten’s genuine logo with red and black on their white jersey, a white version of the logo on the blue jersey, and a gold version on the slate jerseys.”
FORBES – JAPANESE FIRM RAKUTEN SIGNS SPONSORSHIP DEAL WITH NBA’S GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
“While it may seem an unlikely pairing, it is exactly the kind of partnership that Rakuten CEO and founder Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani believe will make his Japanese e-commerce company a global household name.”
CBS SPORTS – WARRIORS PARTNER WITH RAKUTEN FOR NBA’S MOST LUCRATIVE JERSEY SPONSORSHIP DEAL
“The Golden State Warriors have been one of the most popular and successful teams in the league in recent years. Taking advantage of the good times, they inked the most lucrative NBA jersey sponsorship by partnering with the Japanese tech company, Rakuten.”
THE JAPAN TIMES – U.S. BASKETBALL TEAM INKS LUCRATIVE THREE-YEAR, ¥6.6-BILLION JERSEY DEAL WITH RAKUTEN
“Warriors chief marketing officer Chip Bowers said the team was attracted to Rakuten for its global reach and its local affiliation, with cash-back site Ebates headquartered in San Francisco.”
YAHOO SPORTS – WARRIORS, TECH COMPANY REACH NBA’S RICHEST JERSEY ADVERTISING DEAL — BY FAR
“The Warriors and Japanese tech giant Rakuten reached a three-year deal that will net $20 million annually for the title favorites.”
GOLDEN STATE OF MIND – THE WARRIORS SIGN A NBA AD PATCH DEAL WITH RAKUTEN
“Reportedly, this deal with Rakuten was not the highest bid the Warriors were offered, but the Warriors really wanted to fulfill their ‘global vision’ and chose Rakuten specifically.”
THE MERCURY NEWS – HOW WARRIORS’ SPONSORSHIP DEAL WITH RAKUTEN INDIRECTLY HELPS WITH BUILDING A ROSTER
“After Warriors and Rakuten officials spoke glowingly of their new partnership, [Andre] Iguodala addressed how it impacted him besides his uniform’s design… ‘There’s a premium on great brands coming together,’” Iguodala said.”
USA TODAY – GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS AGREE TO JERSEY-PATCH DEAL WITH JAPANESE TECH COMPANY
“Rakuten – a Japanese tech company that owns cash-back site Ebates, messaging app Viber and ebook brand Kobo – will have its red-and-black logo featured on the Warriors’ white jerseys starting in 2017-18 and the white logo on Golden State’s blue away jerseys.”
SFGATE – WARRIORS ANNOUNCE $20M/YR JERSEY-PATCH ADVERTISING DEAL WITH RAKUTEN
“The Warriors’ emergence as a global brand has created major sponsorship opportunities. On Tuesday morning, the team announced a new kind of deal: It has sold space on its jersey to Japanese tech company Rakuten for the next three years.”
