PepsiCo will replace Coca-Cola Company as the official food and drinks partner of the National Basketball Association.
After 28 years of collaboration between Coca-Cola and NBA, the latter is ending its partnership and is turning its head towards Coke's archrival Pepsi.
Pepsi will not sponsor all of the food and beverage supply for the NBA, the NBA Development League, USA Basketball, and the Women's National Basketball Association. The agreement that just closed will commence on the next season of the league, BBC News reported.
This deal will cover not only in the United States but also in China where NBA is getting popular as of today.
"The NBA has established itself as one of the most exciting and innovative sports leagues in the world," PepsiCo chief executive Indra Nooyi explained.
"We look forward to working together to redefine the meaning of sports marketing partnership," Nooyi added.
With the new partnership deal, Pepsi will be featuring products like Mountain Dew, Aquafina, Doritos, Brisk, and Ruffles products in the agreement. Pepsi already has an existing contract with NBA and its Gatorade. Mountain Dew will be the product to serve as the leasing brand of the agreement with the NBA in North America, according to Market Watch.
No financial terms were mentioned with regard to the said partnership.
Coca-Cola explained that they made the decision not to pursue with the renewal on global market with the NBA however they will keep the individual sponsorship of teams and players.
Coke has signed a contract deal with the US Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer.
PepsiCo has had sponsorship deals with Major League Soccer since its inaugural 1996 season.