The LA Clippers, owned by Microsoft’s former CEO Steve Ballmer, has negotiated a deal with dating and friend-finding app Bumble.
A major aspect of the deal is the inclusion of Bumble’s logo on Clippers team jerseys. Although jersey sponsorships are far from a new idea, this will be a league first for a dating service.
Bumble’s announcement noted an alignment in brand values between the two since Bumble brands itself as the only “women-first” dating app, and the Clippers are led by the NBA’s only female president. The partnership highlights the importance of diversity and equality for the two brands.
The particular terms of the deal weren’t made public, but Bumble hasn’t balked at making politics a part of their brand. The company recently took a strong anti-gun stance and held to that belief by banning guns from inclusion in the dating app’s profile pictures.
For Ballmer and the Clippers, it’s a valuable relationship that doubles as an expression of the team’s core values. Now the question is how the Clipper/Bumble relationship will develop, and what happens next for the dating app that doesn’t keep its politics under wraps.
