“There was just no reason to talk to anybody else as long as we progressed to a deal, which took a while because these are complicated and expensive deals,” Mavericks CEO Rick Welts told The Dallas Morning News.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
As the Dallas Mavericks in recent months pursued a new jersey patch deal, executives didn’t exactly cast a wide net and engage in conversations with scores of potential corporate partners.
Instead, they had serious conversations with one just suitor: JPMorganChase.
A long-entrenched relationship coupled with a selective brand with eyes on the D-FW market led to the Mavericks’ jersey patch deal with Chase, the latest such agreement in what is now a more than $800 million sports sponsorship category — and growing.
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“There was just no reason to talk to anybody else as long as we progressed to a deal, which took a while because these are complicated and expensive deals,” Mavericks CEO Rick Welts told The Dallas Morning News. “But we all knew where we wanted to end up. We were fortunate enough to get there.”
The New York-based banking company’s blue and white octagon logo will appear on the upper left front strap of the Mavericks’ jerseys, replacing the former green emblem of the previous sponsor, Chime.
NBA teams have been allowed to partner with companies for rights to display a 2.5-inch-by-2.5-inch patch on jerseys since the 2017-18 season. And the deals represent a significant source of revenue for the league’s teams.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. But the average NBA jersey patch deal was worth a little more than $8.5 million to teams, according to 2024-25 season data SponsorUnited shared with The News.
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The most lucrative deal? Last month, Sportico reported that the Golden State Warriors signed a deal with AI cloud provider Iren for the company’s logo to be on the team’s jersey starting next season, an agreement worth more than $50 million per year that is the richest sponsorship deal in the history of North American sports.
The average MLB jersey patch deal is also worth some $8.5 million, with the most lucrative being the Los Angeles Dodgers’ deal with Guggenheim.
The value of the jersey patch market across six U.S. professional sports is $828 million, the data showed, with expectations to hit $1 billion by 2030. It is also an increasingly valuable sponsorship asset, representing 31% of annual brand investments and almost on par with venue naming rights (34%). Financial brands represent 25% of the jersey patch market.
The deals are increasingly important for brands because of the visibility on so many platforms. The fact that viewers will see the Chase logo every time the TV camera homes in on Cooper Flagg is important, but it extends far beyond that.
Countless fans, especially younger demographics, consume NBA games on YouTube curated highlight reels or catch short-form highlights on TikTok and Instagram. Brands pay millions for that level of visibility.
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“It is the single most visible association that we have with any company,” Welts said, “just because Dereck Lively is going to be wearing that jersey and every photograph that is taken, every piece of video game footage that happens this year, so it’s really important to be associated with a company that brings as much value as Chase does.”
The jersey of Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, pictured with new Chase jersey patch to be worn for the 2026-27 season.
Dallas Mavericks
‘A perfect storm situation’
When Welts was president of the Golden State Warriors in 2016, they announced that Chase would be the naming rights partner for Chase Center some three years before the $1.4 billion arena opened in San Francisco. He said he saw firsthand how Chase took that opportunity and developed it in the Bay Area with fans and card members.
He said he was “blown away.”
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Initial conversations between the Mavericks and Chase began in December. There was mutual interest. Welts said Dallas is emerging as one of the most important markets for financial institutions over the next 20 years.
The partnership was negotiated from both sides by Creative Artists Agency — the same company that represents Flagg and new Mavericks coach Dusty May.
This is the Chase brand’s first NBA jersey patch deal.
Kate Schoff, the head of sports and entertainment marketing for JPMorganChase, said the brand is very selective in its sports sponsorship deals. It does its due diligence on how a franchise is run, the makeup of markets and assesses what the company can bring to the community. It also has long-standing sponsorship deals with the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.
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Chase’s logo also will be visible throughout American Airlines Center, including a dedicated entrance on the east side of the arena for eligible cardholders. As part of the collaboration, Chase cardholders can access year-round benefits at Mavs shops and arena concessions during games and select AAC events. Cardholders will also receive game-day perks.
“We’ve had our eye on the Dallas-Fort Worth area for quite some time,” Schoff told The News. “We have been keeping tabs on the sports scene. It was a perfect storm situation. There was this opportunity that existed in this market that’s really important to us … and we were able to move quite quickly because we had the history and the relationship.”