• by Karl Greenberg , September 13, 2010

The BBVA Group and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have signed a multiyear marketing partnership designed to spotlight the bank's financial products to NBA fans. BBVA will be Official Bank of the NBA, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the NBA Development League (NBA D-League) in the United States, Spain and Puerto Rico.

Peter Farnsworth, NBA's SVP of business development, tells Marketing Daily that as the NBA moves to becoming more global, it is also becoming more common for companies to make multi-country deals with NBA umbrella properties. "We have 17 offices around the world and marketing partnerships in many different countries, many on a country-specific basis," he says. "But as a reflection of global growth, we have enjoyed numerous multi-country relationships as well."

In the U.S., BBVA Group owns Valley Bank, Laredo National Bank, Texas State Bank, State National Bank, Compass Bank (which has 700 retail locations), and Guaranty Bank.

The company says U.S. marketing activity will focus on its BBVA Compass division and that it will use its Compass retail locations to run NBA-themed promotions around the NBA's own events and programs. BBVA Compass will have a presence on NBA national game telecasts on ABC, ESPN, and TNT, and on NBA TV and NBA.com, according to a BBVA release.

BBVA Compass will also be presenting partner of a grassroots NBA tour that will make 20 stops across the U.S. The bank will also support the league's social responsibility initiative, NBA Cares.

As part of its WNBA partnership, BBVA branding will be in the 2010 WNBA Finals with BBVA's logo on both teams' jerseys for the entire series. The League says it is the first time a single marketing partner has its logo on the jerseys of both teams competing in the WNBA Finals, other than the league's official outfitter.

In Spain, the partnership will include sponsorship of the NBA Europe Live presented by EA Sports game on Oct. 7 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona between the Los Angeles Lakers and the defending Euroleague champions FC Barcelona on Oct. 7.

BBVA says it will launch additional partnership activities in the U.S. to coincide with the tipoff of the NBA regular season on Oct. 26.

Farnsworth says that although the Spanish bank's focus in the multi-year deal is on two countries and Puerto Rico, the deal could expand to other countries. "This is where we are today, but they have vast aspirations as do we in terms of brand and business building, so I think there could be several new chapters to be written."