The last time apparel brand Champion was involved with the NBA was in the 1990s. But after a long hiatus, Champion is back, this time on the digital basketball court.
Last month the NBA announced that Champion would be the official apparel partner for the NBA 2K League in a multiyear agreement. The agreement has Champion providing apparel for all 21 teams in the league, with merchandise being available both online and the handful of Champion stores around the United States. Apparel will include travel-wear, warmup, and practice gear.
“Here in 2019, in this connected world that we’re in, we see teams evolving and teams really changing.”
At the season two NBA 2K League Draft at Barclays Stadium in Brooklyn, Director Champion Brand Marketing David Robertson was on hand to see the best NBA 2K 
players from around the world be picked up by actual NBA teams. And among all the pomp and circumstance, Robertson was able to talk with The Esports Observer on Champion’s re-entry into the NBA.
“Here in 2019, in this connected world that we’re in, we see teams evolving and teams really changing. And there are all different kinds of teams now. And we love how esports is this new expression of what team means today,” Robertson said.
This isn’t Champion’s first foray into esports. The company is currently the apparel partner for the Detroit Renegades , owned by Golden State Warriors forward Jonas Jerebko, Team Dignitas , owned by the Philadelphia 76ers, OpTic Gaming owned by Texas Rangers co-owner Neil Leibman, and RMU Illinois. But the above teams play in multiple games with wide audiences. This means that Champion can hit fans in games like Rocket League and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive among others. But when comparing 2K League viewership numbers to even mid-tier esports, metrics have been middling.
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Then why would Champion so closely tie itself with the NBA on this venture when there are probably better opportunities in esports out there? Well, for Champion, it’s a way to get back into the NBA, which it plans on celebrating for its 100-year anniversary later this year.
“NBA 2K is how we’re seeing it come to life with the NBA today.”
Back in 1992, Champion was the apparel partner for the American Olympic basketball team. And 1992 was a good year for American Olympic basketball, as the team — known as the Dream Team — included stars like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. Champion plans on celebrating this moment later this month with a campaign headed by Magic Johnson.
“We have an incredible history and authentic heritage linked to the NBA. But really NBA 2K is how we’re seeing it come to life with the NBA today,” Robertson said.
In 2018, real-life 2K League merchandise was tucked away in the basement at the NBA Store in Manhattan. It was something noticed by fans and sleuthing journalists.
Stopped by the @NBA Store in New York. Wanna guess where the 2K League merch is? The basement… pic.twitter.com/o4wj968AvG
— Jacob Wolf (@JacobWolf) June 26, 2018
This suggests that in the larger NBA ecosystem, esports is still small potatoes. That’s something Champion is hoping to mitigate.
“We have our own stores and we have our own ecommerce site where we will be able to feature the NBA 2K League apparel, and we will. We’ll feature it prominently and that’s what we can control is the way we feature it. To us it’s important,” Robertson said.
“We have our own stores and we have our own ecommerce site where we will be able to feature the NBA 2K League apparel.”
At the moment Champion has retail locations in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and Chicago. The company is also launching a fifth location in Philadelphia later this month.
For its 100-year anniversary, Champion will be doing activations at its stores featuring products from past and present sports partnerships. It plans to promote 2K League as well, showing the breadth of all sports the brand has touched, both traditional and digital.
And at the end of the day, it will be up to Champion to translate 2K League interest and fandom into actual sales. Given the relatively low viewership 2K League had in season one, it’s hard to predict if 2K League will grow into something viable in 2019 and beyond. But maybe if the Olympics introduce esports at a future Olympiad, then Champion can relive its 1992 glory with a 2K Dream Team.
