New agreement to leverage local expertise and network for potential business prospects
Milan, Italy – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Infront Italy S.p.A. (Infront) today announced a partnership that will see Infront represent the NBA with respect to the sale of the NBA’s sponsorship rights in Italy.
This marks the NBA’s first agreement where a sports marketing company, together with the NBA, will represent the NBA’s sponsorship business in Italy. Under this deal, with Infront being the only third party authorized to represent the NBA in Italy for sponsorship sales, the NBA and Infront will work together closely to build the NBA’s sponsorship business in Italy.
“Infront is an experienced and reliable international sports marketing company with a proven track record,” said NBA EME Associate Vice President, Global Partnerships, Mark Osikoya. “There has never been a better time to be an NBA fan in Italy. With the anticipation building ahead of the upcoming season that will feature three players from Italy, the first NBA Store in Europe located in Milan and a strong set of existing marketing partners, we look forward to working with Infront to further grow our sponsorship business in Italy.”
“We are very proud of this partnership,” said Alessandro Giacomini, Managing Director of Business at Infront Italy. “Given the growing fan base the NBA is enjoying in Italy, we are convinced we can support and strengthen the NBA to create interesting and valuable business partnerships.”
Infront will work closely with the NBA in Italy, leveraging Infront’s vast Italian network and local expertise to source potential business prospects. In addition with offices in Milan and Rome, Infront represents numerous Serie A and Serie B football clubs, as well as basketball clubs and brands.
NBA fans in Italy can find more information at nba.com/italia, the league’s official online destination hosted by Sky Italia, and on Facebook (NBA Italia) and Twitter (@NBAItalia). In addition, fans can watch live NBA games throughout the season – including a record 48 primetime games every Saturday and Sunday starting at 20h30 Italian time – on Sky Italia’s dedicated NBA channel Sky Sport NBA. A full range of official NBA merchandise is available on NBAStore.eu.
About the NBA
The NBA is a global sports and media business built around four professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, the NBA G League and the NBA 2K League. The NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 100,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2018-19 season featured 108 international players from 42 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 1.6 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.
