Hornets Ink Jersey Patch Deal With Brand Founded by YouTuber ‘MrBeast’
The Charlotte Hornets have partnered with a North Carolina native who might be able to help the team reach the next generation of fans.
The Hornets inked a new multiyear jersey patch deal with Feastables, a snack brand founded by YouTube star MrBeast. The Feastables logo will appear on the team’s jerseys starting this season. It’s believed to be the league’s first jersey patch sponsorship deal with an influencer-led brand.
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The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Feastables, which launched last year, will replace financial services company LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE), which had been the team’s inaugural patch sponsor since the league-wide program launched in 2017. The partnership is the first major commercial deal under new majority owners Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, who purchased the franchise for $3 billion earlier this year.
The splashy marketing deal is expected to draw attention to the Hornets from corners of the internet that don’t often intersect with the NBA, while Feastables aims to engage new consumers who may not be familiar with the product. The brand’s logo will not only appear on the G League team Greensboro Swarm’s uniform, but it will also be featured on the physical and virtual jersey of the Hornets Venom GT, the team’s NBA 2K league organization. Venom GT became the first team in league history to win THE TURN tournament multiple times earlier this year.
The Hornets, who have missed the playoffs for the last seven seasons, look to leverage the mega following of MrBeast, a Greenville, N.C., native who has more than 130 million subscribers on YouTube. The two brands will collaborate on various digital media, marketing and content opportunities. The deal comes as the Feastables company unveils a new brand design which will be featured on the jersey and other new products.
The Hornets’ new patch deal comes one week after the team renewed with longtime healthcare partner Novant Health, which will also sponsor all three teams, including the Venom GT and the Greensboro Swarm. The team is expected to finalize other smaller local partnerships in the coming weeks.
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