This morning, the Minnesota Timberwolves have announced a multi-year advertising deal with Sezzle, naming the Minneapolis-based fintech company as their ‘Official Jersey Patch Partner’. This marks Sezzle’s first venture into sports partnerships with an NBA team. Sezzle ads will also appear on the Minnesota Lynx’ jerseys (the Lynx are Minnesota’s WNBA team).
And just what is Sezzle, you may ask.
Sezzle is known as a “Buy-Now-Pay-Later company,” which is a type of short-term financing that allows consumers to make purchases and pay for them over time in installments. BNPL is often structured like an installment loan, where consumers make small, regular payments over a few weeks or months.
Here’s how the marketingspeak described the deal, in a delicious word salad:
“We are thrilled to announce Sezzle as the official jersey patch partner for the Minnesota Timberwolves. This partnership holds special significance as both Sezzle and the Timberwolves are proud to call Minneapolis home,” said Sezzle co-founder and President Paul Paradis. “Just as the Timberwolves are reaching new heights on the court, Sezzle is achieving remarkable growth and success in the financial technology sector. Our shared commitment to innovation and community strengthens this collaboration, and we look forward to supporting our hometown team in this exciting journey!”
“With a shared commitment to strategic growth and transformation, as well as delivering best-in-class experiences, Sezzle is the perfect partner to prominently represent our organization and brand,” said Timberwolves and Lynx COO Ryan Tanke. “As both our companies reach significant inflection points, this is a unique opportunity to team up with a purpose-driven financial tech company in our backyard to thoughtfully broaden our fan and consumer bases through the love of Timberwolves and Lynx basketball.”
Here’s how the ad will look on the Timberwolves anthracite jersey.
The T-Wolves former jersey advertiser was Aura.
Of course, the announcement was coupled with a hype video (insert eyeroll here).
kickin' off the season with a new jersey patch partner.
🪡 » @sezzleinc pic.twitter.com/or0glaWKUR
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) August 12, 2024
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. NBA teams ad deals are in the range of $5 million to $20 million per year, with an average of $10 million expected for the 2024-2025 season, according to industry reports.
gross.
I wonder why they didn’t show the ad on their white and/or blue unis.
Is there a “fintech” company these days that doesn’t sound like a straightforward scam?
Pathetic, Pukey Patch Partner is more like it.
I tell you what, the “teeth” on the wordmark can hurry up and go right in the trash. Nike changes NBA uniforms like it’s a bodily function, so let’s move on from this design already please.
Did Silicon Valley Reinvent The Bus Again?
the wolves have chosen to sezzle for less
There is no good reason that the Lynx aren’t mentioned in the headline.
Whatever. An ugly ad on an ugly uniform.
Hooray for PayDay Loans getting a new foothold on America.
It would be really nice if we didn’t cover this on the site. Don’t give them the free advertising and coverage. As a Strategy Analyst at work, I’d love to see the metrics on how many of the Google advertiser searches start from Uni Watch and SL.net users looking for what that company does.
Ironically, this site may have driven up the value of these ads by millions of dollars a year by covering each new ad patch.
As unnecessary and unattractive as any uniform ad.