Report: NBA, WNBA Agree to New 12-Year Contract Extension With Nike

Both the NBA and WNBA reportedly agreed to a 12-year contract extension with Nike that would keep the sneaker and apparel giant as the official global outfitter of both leagues, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

"I don't think it was ever in question," Nike's vice president of global athlete sports marketing, Tanya Hvizdak, told Boardroom's Nick DePaula on Monday. "To have an opportunity to continue to work with our league partners and continue our long-standing as No. 1 within basketball, as you start to look forward, we couldn't be any more excited."

Nike first entered into an eight-year deal with the NBA, WNBA and G League in 2017 as the official outfitter, providing jerseys and other merchandising for those leagues.

"It was obvious to us that the deal was working as good as it could be from the NBA's perspective," the league's president of global partnerships, Sal LaRocca, told McMenamin. "Nike's investment in the NBA, the WNBA, the G League, grassroots basketball, boys and girls elite-level basketball, is critical—we think—to our long-term goals to continue to grow the sport of basketball on a global basis."

Las Vegas Aces star and three-time MVP A'ja Wilson credited the partnership with Nike for helping to grow the WNBA's popularity.

"Back when I was a rookie was not that long ago and there wasn't a whole lot of ways to really tell your story," she told ESPN. "It wasn't like people wanted to know A'ja outside the uniform because they never saw it before. They never saw it in a WNBA player before, as much as we see it now. I think that comes from Nike kind of taking that chance and being like, 'No, we want to tell these ladies' stories. We want to get them out there to show that it's deeper than just a uniform.'"

"Nike has always been more than a league sponsor—we're a strategic partner with an unwavering commitment to growing the game, alongside the NBA, WNBA and NBA G League," Nike president and CEO Elliott Hill said in a statement.

Financial terms for the agreement have not been publicly disclosed.