• by Wayne Friedman , 96 minutes ago

Even before the New York Knicks became NBA champions, advertising sponsors believed the major-market team was worth making a deal with.

For the 2025-26 NBA season that just completed, the Knicks posted the largest rise in sponsorship deal volume of any team -- up 28.3% year-over-year, according to SponsorUnited.

The number of deals for the Knicks has risen to 59, including many seven-figure deals from sponsors. The team has major deals with sponsors including JPMorgan Chase, Nike, Lexus, PepsiCo, and Anheuser-Busch. Its valuable team jersey patch sponsor is Experience Abu Dhabi.

Much of the push for the New York team came as the Knicks were growing into a legitimate Eastern Conference contender during the last couple of years.

The San Antonio Spurs also grew its sponsorship deals by 14% to 82 -- partly attributable to the rise of Victor Wembanyama to stardom status.

The valuation of the New York Knicks is now much higher because of its championship status, according to Forbes -- now at $9.75 billion, up from $7.5 billion the previous year. The team’s valuation is up 95% since 2020.

Much of the valuation comes from playing in the largest U.S. market with highly valued local media rights revenue. They are the third highest-valued team in the NBA behind the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The NBA overall witnessed team sponsorship revenue up 11% in 2025-2026 past season to $1.8 billion, with the average deal priced at $731,000.