Beats by Dr. Dre and the National Basketball Association today announced a comprehensive marketing and merchandising partnership that will make the company the official headphone, wireless speaker and audio partner of the NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), NBA G League and USA Basketball beginning in October 2018.
“Beats revolutionized the music industry and has become one of the most innovative and culturally influential brands in the world,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in a statement. “Through our partnership, we have an exciting opportunity to merge sports, pop culture and technology to deliver unparalleled experiences and premium products to our fans.”
In celebration of Beats’ 10-year anniversary, the multi-year deal will build on the music and tech brand’s global recognition by leveraging its extensive roster of NBA stars including LeBron James, Draymond Green, James Harden, Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum and Karl-Anthony Towns.
“The NBA and its players have long been significant drivers of global culture. Basketball, music, and style speak as one voice: Julius Erving became a style icon, Allen Iverson cemented hip hop’s place on and off the court and LeBron James is breaking new music every day… the list goes on and on,” said Luke Wood, President of Beats by Dr. Dre, in a statement. “This partnership with the NBA is the perfect alignment for Beats. It feels like coming home.”
“I always want to be the best and work with the best. That’s why I joined the Beats fam – they have the best headphones and they made them a style icon when no one else thought of electronics that way,” said six-time NBA All-Star James Harden, in a statement. “Whether I’m traveling, working out or decompressing after a game, I can’t imagine listening to anything without them. Beats loves basketball and always works to tell the stories of their favorite players. I’m excited to see what they do with the NBA.”
As part of the expansive partnership with the NBA, Beats will provide product to players and activate during marquee events including NBA All-Star, NBA Draft presented by State Farm, international NBA games in China and Europe, WNBA All-Star, WNBA Draft presented by State Farm and USA Basketball men’s and women’s national team exhibition tours.
Beats will also collaborate with and establish separate deals with NBA teams and launch a line of its audio products for fans around the world, including NBA team-branded headphones.
Source: NBA
MacDailyNews Take: That deal will certainly help to move a lot of product.
Of course the virtue signaling SJW CEO would back pro basketball because they have leagues for both males and females.
Back the NFL? No way, too many macho violent men in the gladiator coliseums on Fall Sundays. No wonder Microsoft waltzed right in and the Surface tablet seized the sideline standard.
These things happen when you put politics above established standard business practices …
The three words on everyone’s mind:
Steph motherfreaking curry.
Apple is a behemoth. This arrangement with the establishment feels Microsoftian which signals to me that Apple’s joyful rebelliousness, coolness, and acceptance factors are peaking, with a decline imminent.
The obvious fault in Apple’s strategy to obsolete its products before a competitor can will not scale up to Apple Corp. itself because that’s not how Jobs designed it. Jobs did not, would not, could not factor this into his baby. Therefore, Apple the behemoth needs to obsolete itself, perhaps by severely dividing itself into several completely independent companies. The benefit would be so that each can focus on itself 100%.
Because of positive earnings forecasts, Apple’s Board of Directors see no need to change their fundamental organisation. But even if they did, splitting up Apple would be complex and risky because there are no traditional internal divisions readily spun off. Vertical organisation implies the existence of many tendrils of dependency whose efficiencies would be lost in such a collapse. And without central decision-making, supply chain management becomes more intricate and subject to failure, not to mention time-to-market falling behind that of the competition. Also, each smaller, dedicated unit may or may not have the self-focus you assume will make everything pure again, or the will to cooperate with one another. Apple may be a behemoth in size, but remains singular in its Jobsian focus on devising the best new things, even when those things aren’t what we all thought we wanted.
You make good points. I don’t strongly disagree with them. So you must agree that self-obsoleting is not scalable upward,
It could happen if Apple replaced Detroit as a manufacturer of cars. Think about it – as computing becomes more imbedded and increasingly ubiquitous, Apple morphing into different industries is likely. They have their hot little hands on a lot of experimental tech including medical but Project Titan seems the leading candidate. Apple isn’t fundamentally about making money – it’s about disrupting and transforming industries on a plan to remake the future, using the special imagination that Jobs implanted into the corporate mission and structure. Even CEO Cook is a puppet in this master plan.
Agreed. As long as the bucks flow in Cook is safe. Never mind the trivial matter of creative genius which he is not …
Agreed. The only certain way to remove Cook is for some other company to come up with an iPhone Killer. As faithfully chronicled by MacDailyNews, that has been tried multiple times with multiple failures. In a sad, ironic twist, Jobs’s brainchild the iPhone has doomed his earlier inspiration, the Mac, by overshadowing it. Capitalism forges a cruel path.
Agreed …
What took them so long to think different? Thought it was in the DNA. What’s next? Cars? Men’s cologne? Women’s parfum? Corporate consultation? Household appliances?
“significant drivers of global culture”
Oh My.
And for other sport fans, you can get the “Apple Watch Nike+”.
Well, Apple fanboy and liberal activist you are free and have my support, not that you need it, to promote NIKE and Apple products.
Suspect I am missing your support and that’s to be expected. I am personally BOYCOTTING NIKE for all time.
To run an ad before the first NFL game of the year with a failed unemployed quarterback activist disrespecting the military heroes, flag and national anthem is over the top. NFL viewership and attendance numbers are in steady decline because of this clown.
Also BOYCOTTING the NFL this season until the players learn RESPECT for the military and our country. Saturday is my football day. They respect tradition and play their hearts out.
Here is a suggestion for the 2018 NEW NFL PROTEST GRANDE: on camera, cut or rip the NIKE logo from your uniforms! Gladly watch that …
He didn’t give up everything. Disingenuous marketing linked to a marginal QB that admired communist Castro, but cops, no so much.
“Disingenuous” indeed …
Cry Meet Baby…..
NFL protest 2018 — rip the NIKE logo from your jersey during the national anthem. Hoo, ha! …