The Golden State Warriors have signed a deal with AI cloud provider Iren for the company’s logo to be on the team’s jersey starting next season, replacing Rakuten. The agreement is worth more than $50 million per year, according to someone familiar with the details, and the richest sponsorship deal in the history of North American team sports.
The multiyear partnership spans the entire Golden State organization, including the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries and G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors. Iren branding will be on the Valkyries player warm-ups and Santa Cruz jerseys, and the logo will have prominent visibility throughout Chase Center.
Golden State chief commercial officer Mike Kitts said the company wanted a partner that shared its vision for innovation and community engagement. In the new release, Kitts said Iren’s commitment to powering the future of technology aligned with the team’s goals to “push the boundaries of innovation on a global scale and create a lasting legacy across the Bay Area and beyond.”
Bloomberg was the first to report the tie-up between the Warriors and Iren but did not have the value of the agreement.
Last week, Golden State and Rakuten extended their partnership, which included several community-focused initiatives and a limited series of upcycled merchandise with previous Warrior jerseys with the Rakuten badge called the Warriors Golden Legacy collection.
Iren, headquartered in Australia, was founded in 2018 by brothers Daniel and Williams Roberts. It started as a bitcoin mining company but has transitioned towards AI data centers, with facilities in Canada and Texas as the industry exploded. In October, Microsoft and Iren unveiled a five-year AI cloud services contract worth $9.7 billion, and last month, Iren announced a deal with Nvidia “to accelerate deployment of large-scale AI factories.”
The company’s current market cap is $18 billion. Iren shares, which are traded on the Nasdaq, soared 1,200% over six months last year as part of the AI boom. The stock is down from its May peak, when the Nvidia deal was announced, but it’s still up 28% year-to-date.
The Warriors and Iren are planning a series of educational programs that advance AI and STEAM literacy in the Bay Area. The organizations will refurbish community basketball courts and distribute 10,000 Warriors jerseys annually to youth in underserved communities.
The Warriors led Sportico’s NBA team valuations for the fifth straight year at $11.33 billion—only the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys ($12.8 billion) rank higher among the most valuable global sports franchises. Golden State is a financial juggernaut with revenue 34% higher than the New York Knicks, who rank second. Total sponsorship revenue is nearly double any other team.
The Valkyries, who are in their second season, have set a new bar for WNBA teams. The franchise generated $78 million in its first year, 48% more than the Indiana Fever, who rank second. The Valkyries have more than 40 corporate partners and led our WNBA team valuations at $850 million, with the New York Liberty second at $600 million.