The New York Knicks kick off their season next week with high expectations after their best season in more than a decade and the addition of four-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns. The club will hit the court with a new logo on their jersey.
Madison Square Garden Sports, which owns the NHL’s Knicks and New York Rangers, has signed a multi-year agreement with the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism to have “Experience Abu Dhabi” as the team’s retail partner starting in the 2024-25 season. DCT Abu Dhabi has signed a separate marketing agreement with Madison Square Garden Entertainment, which owns the team’s venue.
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The logo will appear on Knicks home and away game jerseys, as well as the club’s practice jersey and warm-up shirts. Additionally, jerseys sold at Madison Square Garden’s in-arena retail locations will feature the Experience Abu Dhabi logo.
Financial terms have not been released, but the Knicks are believed to be at the high end of the NBA scale. The Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets have previously signed agreements in the $30 million per year range, while the Golden State Warriors are extraordinary, earning $45 million annually from Rakuten.
“Our partnership with the New York Knicks and the MSG Family of Companies is in line with our mission to boost Abu Dhabi’s global visibility as part of our Tourism Strategy 2030,” HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said in a statement.
The deal comes one day after another company controlled by the Dolan family, Sphere Entertainment, announced a deal with DCT Abu Dhabi to make the United Arab Emirates capital the home of the United Arab Emirates. second Realm. Jim Dolan had long envisioned replicas of his Las Vegas Sphere in global locations, but he wanted financial partners for those expensive projects that reached $2.3 billion in Vegas. DCT Abu Dhabi is financing construction, with Sphere employees providing their expertise.
The Knicks had the Sphere emblem on their jerseys last season. That deal was reached just as the season began after a jersey patch deal between the Knicks and the Saudi General Entertainment Authority’s Riyadh Season fell apart.
In 2019, the NBA launched its International Marketing Program, which allowed teams to sign two international sponsorship deals. It expanded that to 10 partners in 2022. DCT Abu Dhabi will have global rights to use Madison Square Garden brands as part of these agreements.
The Knicks open their season Tuesday against the defending champion Boston Celtics.
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