Decathlon and NBA team up globally for league-branded merchandise

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Decathlon has teamed up with the National Basketball Association (NBA) for a multi-year merchandising partnership, making Decathlon an official licensee of the NBA across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. For Asia in particular, the partnership also covers Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and the Philippines.

The partnership features a dedicated range of NBA team and league-branded base layers, accessories and footwear designed by Decathlon and sold under its basketball brand Tarmak, which was created four years ago. Tarmak leader Damien Dezitter said both companies have a common objective to develop basketball worldwide. Hence, it was natural to partner up. At the same time, NBA EME director, global partnerships Steve Griffiths said Decathlon is a leader in sporting goods retail with a global footprint and the partnership will enable fans worldwide to access a range of merchandise.

The collection will be sold exclusively in more than 1,200 Decathlon stores worldwide and on its website. Products will be available for pre-order beginning in March 2021 ahead of the April 2021 launch in stores. NBA's spokesperson declined to comment on the monetary value of the partnership. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Decathlon for comment.

The French sporting goods retailer has been active in Asia. Last year, it partnered Lazada Malaysia to accelerate its digital presence and support the next leg of its business growth. Meanwhile in 2019, it opened the largest sports store in Hong Kong at Sheung Tak Plaza to help consumers gain a complete understanding of any product before the point of purchase. That same year, it unveiled the Decathlon Singapore Lab to integrate sports into consumers' lifestyle through providing experience zones to test all the products in-store, free sports sessions at its free-to-play areas. The brand is currently working with Ogilvy for integrated communications covering brand strategy, creative, social, PR and digital services.