Baden Sports to Become Official Ball Partner of the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga Starting from the 2024/2025 Season
Contract Duration of Four Years / Partnership with uhlsport GmbH
Cologne/Balingen, July 4, 2024 – The easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga (easyCredit BBL) will enter the upcoming 2024/25 season with a new ball partner. Baden Sports will exclusively provide the official game ball. The contract, which has a four-year term, was concluded with the distribution partner for Baden Sports, uhlsport GmbH. In addition to the official ball partnership for the easyCredit BBL games, the agreement includes custom ball merchandise for the clubs. Baden Sports replaces long-term partner Spalding, which had been the official game ball provider for the easyCredit BBL since the 2007/2008 season.
Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Kent near Seattle, Washington, USA, Baden Sports produces high-quality balls for basketball, volleyball, soccer, futsal, football, softball, and baseball. One of the company’s first product innovations was the development of a smaller women’s basketball (size 6), which the NCAA adopted as the official game ball in 1984. The brand name Baden was inspired by a vacation taken by the company’s founder, E.C. Schindler, in Baden-Baden, Germany.
Dr. Stefan Holz, CEO of the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga, stated,
“As the first major European league, we are very excited about the collaboration with Baden Sports. Baden is a young, dynamic company with a strong drive for innovation, which aligns perfectly with the ambitions of the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga.”
Jake Licht, CEO of Baden Sports, commented,
“The cooperation with the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga is a significant milestone in the history of Baden Sports. Through this partnership with the BBL, we are increasing our visibility in Germany and Europe, and we are pleased to have found a strong distribution partner in Europe with uhlsport GmbH.”
Melanie Steinhilber, Director of Markets and member of the management board at uhlsport GmbH, added,
“With the partnership with the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga, we aim to strengthen the strategic expansion of our team sports business towards basketball. Within our Kempa brand, we offer all relevant textiles for basketball and complement these with high-quality basketballs from the U.S. brand Baden Sports. We wanted to reinforce this new distribution partnership from the start with a prestigious European equipment mandate. The commitment from the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga delights us greatly. It underscores Baden Sports’ high-quality standards for their products and the significant trust that the easyCredit BBL places in the service capabilities of uhlsport GmbH.”
About easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga
The easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga is the umbrella organization for the teams in the top-tier German basketball league, organizing the German Championship and the BBL Cup. The operational business is managed by Basketball Bundesliga GmbH, which is responsible for the organizational handling of competitions and game scheduling. Furthermore, the BBL GmbH regulates licensing and player transfers. The easyCredit BBL also creates the strategic framework for the sporting and economic development of the clubs and is responsible for the central marketing of, among other things, naming rights and media rights.
