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98-600: The WA Basketball Centre (also known by its sponsored name , the Bendat Basketball Centre ) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Perth , Western Australia. The stadium features eight courts, including two basketball show courts with 1,100 permanent seats and 900 retractable seats, and a six-court sports hall with multi-sport line markings. Facilities cater primarily for basketball , in addition to netball , volleyball and badminton . The stadium also holds

196-487: A violent incident between players and fans in a November 2004 game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons . In response, players were suspended for a total of 146 games with $ 11 million total lost in salary, and the league tightened security and limited the sale of alcohol. On May 19, 2005, Commissioner Stern testified before the U.S. House of Representatives ' Committee on Government Reform about

294-409: A corporate-purchased name must always be referred to in all event-related media (including live broadcasts) by a generic name (e.g., General Motors Place was referred to as "Canada Hockey Place" during the 2010 Winter Olympics ). On the other hand, Toyota Stadium was referred to as "City of Toyota Stadium" during the 2019 Rugby World Cup to avoid confusion as a form of ambush marketing; the stadium

392-664: A deal on October 23, 2009. At the start of the 2010–11 season, free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh signed with the Miami Heat, joining Dwyane Wade to form the " Big Three ". The Heat dominated the league, reaching the Finals for four straight years. In 2011 , they faced a re-match with the Dallas Mavericks but lost to the Dirk Nowitzki -led team. They won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 against

490-449: A finals appearance marking their 18th championship, their first since 2008. Following pioneers like Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Dražen Petrović (Croatia) who joined the NBA in the late 1980s, an increasing number of international players have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the NBA. Since 2006, the NBA has faced EuroLeague teams in exhibition matches in

588-730: A four-game sweep by the Spurs over the LeBron James -led Cleveland Cavaliers . The 2008 Finals saw a rematch of the league's highest profile rivalry , the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers , with the Celtics winning their 17th championship. The Lakers won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010 , against the Orlando Magic and the Celtics. The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was held at Cowboys Stadium in front of

686-741: A function room on the first floor for up to 270 people, with bar and kitchen facilities. The stadium houses the offices of Basketball Western Australia , Perry Lakes Basketball Association , and the Perth Wildcats . The facility is the main training base of the Wildcats, home court of the Perth Lynx , and hosts countless state, junior and social games throughout the year. In 2008, construction started at AK Reserve in Mount Claremont on new athletics and basketball facilities to replace

784-574: A lawsuit filed by the city of Seattle , which was intended to keep the SuperSonics in Seattle for the remaining two seasons of the team's lease at KeyArena . Following a court case, the city of Seattle settled with the ownership group of the SuperSonics on July 2, 2008, allowing the team to move to Oklahoma City immediately in exchange for terminating the final two seasons of the team's lease at KeyArena. The Oklahoma City Thunder began playing in

882-652: A major role in the growth of the league during his career. Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 with the Chicago Bulls , spurring more interest in the league. In 1988 and 1989, four cities got their wishes as the Charlotte Hornets , Miami Heat , Orlando Magic , and Minnesota Timberwolves made their NBA debuts, bringing the total to 27 teams. The Detroit Pistons won back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990, led by coach Chuck Daly and guard Isiah Thomas . Jordan and Scottie Pippen led

980-552: A name of the sponsor as their team or club name (see List of sports clubs named after a sponsor). In association football , leagues and cup competitions sometimes adopt the name of their sponsors. For example, England 's Premier League was known as the Barclays Premier League until 2016, and its FA Cup is officially the Emirates FA Cup. The Premier League announced in 2015 that it would not accept

1078-603: A property in recognition of the financial support. This is not a financial transaction in the style of the private sector. For example, in honor of the more than $ 60 million donated over the years by one donor to the National Air and Space Museum properties, the directors of the Smithsonian Institution chose to name its satellite facility in Loudoun County, Virginia , after the donor, calling it

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1176-473: A small change to the typeface on the NBA wordmark in 2017) and would remain a fixture of the NBA brand. The ABA succeeded in signing a number of major stars in the 1970s, including Julius Erving of the Virginia Squires , in part because it allowed teams to sign college undergraduates. The NBA expanded rapidly during this period. From 1966 to 1974, the NBA grew from nine franchises to 18. In 1970,

1274-620: A title sponsorship beginning in the 2016–17 season. Since 2020, the French Professional Football Ligue adopted the name of Ligue 1 Uber Eats . In college football , most bowl games have modified their traditional names in favor of title sponsors, and in some cases have abandoned their traditional names. While most include their traditional name in some form (e.g. the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential ), some have moved to sponsor-only names (e.g.

1372-627: A trade. The 2019–20 season was suspended indefinitely on March 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. On June 4, 2020, the NBA Board of Governors voted to resume the season in a 22-team format with 8 seeding games per team and a regular playoffs format, with all games played in a "bubble" in Walt Disney World without any fans present. This era also saw

1470-603: Is Willis Tower in Chicago which was and often still is referred to as the "Sears Tower", even though the building was sold in 1994 (but retained its former name until 2003). Sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup , UEFA Euro , Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games prohibit the use of corporate-sponsored name on stadiums, construing the practice as a form of ambush marketing . Any stadium that uses

1568-500: Is not named after Toyota Motor Corporation , but the name of the city in which the stadium is located (though the city was named after the company). The regular corporate signage of a site, including billboards and deck advertising, is usually covered up in these cases; in the FIFA case the signage is replaced solely with FIFA sponsors. However, with the near-universal use of LED ribbon boards, scoreboards, and sideline boardings since

1666-458: Is a commercial company that since 1979 has sold unofficial naming rights to stars ( i.e. , the astronomical objects ). The naming services are limited to an entry in a book, and carry no scientific or official authenticity according to professional astronomers. In some places, and especially in the UK and United States, the naming or renaming of arenas or events is usually met with disapproval from

1764-678: Is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices in Midtown Manhattan , while its NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey . The NBA

1862-627: Is best known to the non-farming public for its insurance business, acquired the naming rights to the University of Kentucky 's new baseball park in 2018. The Farm Bureau in turn donated those naming rights to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture , naming the venue Kentucky Proud Park . The sponsored name is the brand used by said state agency in its marketing campaign for agricultural products produced in that state. Naming rights in United States may have been traced back to 1912 with

1960-632: Is closely related. Probably the most notable example of this is Friends Arena , a major stadium in Stockholm . The facility was originally known as Swedbank Arena, but in 2012 that company donated those rights to the Friends Foundation, an organization heavily sponsored by Swedbank that seeks to combat school bullying . More recently, the Kentucky Farm Bureau , an organization promoting the interests of Kentucky farmers that

2058-472: Is largely traced to the family names of company founders. The record for the highest amount paid for naming rights belongs to Crypto.com Arena . On November 17, 2021, a 20-year, US$ 700 million sponsorship deal was reached between Anschutz Entertainment Group and Singapore-based Crypto.com to rename Los Angeles's Staples Center (the Staples office supply store chain was the previous naming rights holder to

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2156-620: Is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world. The NBA was created on August 3, 1949, with the merger of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL). The league later adopted the BAA's history and considers its founding on June 6, 1946, as its own. In 1976,

2254-485: Is reportedly the lowest viewership seen for the Finals since at least 1994, when total viewers began to be regularly recorded and is a 45 percent decline from game one between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors , which had 13.51 million viewers a year earlier. Some attribute this decline to the political stances the league and its players are taking, while others consider load management,

2352-542: Is the second-wealthiest professional sports league in the world by revenue after the National Football League (NFL). The Boston Celtics have the most NBA championships with 18 and are the reigning league champions, having defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals . The NBA traces its roots to the Basketball Association of America which was founded in 1946 by owners of

2450-629: The 1999 championship with the Spurs , becoming the first former ABA team to win the NBA championship. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant started the 2000s with three consecutive championships for the Lakers. The Spurs reclaimed the title in 2003 against the Nets . In 2004, the Lakers returned to the Finals , only to lose in five games to the Detroit Pistons . The league's image was marred by

2548-501: The 2022 NBA Finals , their fourth championship in eight years. The 2022–23 season saw the Denver Nuggets , led by center Nikola Jokić , make the franchise's first NBA Finals appearance and defeat the Miami Heat in five games to win their first NBA championship. The 2023–24 NBA season saw the star-studded Boston Celtics , winning a championship over the Dallas Mavericks, after five conference finals appearances , and

2646-635: The American Basketball League (ABL) and the NBL, the BAA was the first league to attempt to play primarily in large arenas in major cities. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters . For instance, the 1947 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that league's 1948 title, and

2744-588: The Busch Memorial Stadium in 1966 , shortened in the 1970s to "Busch Stadium" and remained the stadium's name until it closed in 2005. By that time, Major League Baseball 's policy had changed – with Coors Field in Denver and Miller Park in Milwaukee going up in that span – and Anheuser-Busch (who retained the naming rights after selling the team) was able to use the same name for

2842-641: The Emirates Stadium , their previous ground being Arsenal Stadium . In cricket, the most famous example is The Oval , home of Surrey County Cricket Club . It has had several sponsors over the years, and is currently known as "The Kia Oval", having originally been known as the "Kennington Oval", after the district of London in which it is located. While the highest prices have traditionally been paid for stadium rights, many companies and individuals have found that selling their naming rights can be an important consideration in funding their business. Since

2940-591: The Gator Bowl was known for four playings as the TaxSlayer Bowl), a move that generally is treated with consternation from fans. Some newer bowl games have been named after title sponsors since inception—for example, the Blockbuster Bowl , original named after Blockbuster Video when it debuted in 1990, has gone through multiple sponsorship and naming changes; for its December 2023 playing, it

3038-605: The MBTA 's State Street station by Citizens Bank lasted from 1997 to 2000. In Tampa , naming rights for both streetcar stations and rolling stock are available. In December 2016, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a naming rights policy for its facilities and routes, but later rescinded the policy two months later over potential lawsuits for skipping sponsors. Examples outside of

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3136-804: The NBA Europe Live Tour , and since 2009, in the EuroLeague American Tour . On November 9, 2007, when the Houston Rockets with Yao Ming faced off against the Milwaukee Bucks with Yi Jianlian , over 200 million people in China watched on 19 different networks, making it the most-viewed game in NBA history. The 2013–14 season opened with a record 92 international players on the opening night rosters, representing 39 countries and comprising over 20 percent of

3234-601: The NBA G League , was created. Two years after the Hornets' move to New Orleans , the NBA returned to North Carolina, as the Charlotte Bobcats were formed as an expansion team in 2004. The Hornets temporarily moved to Oklahoma City in 2005 for two seasons because of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina . The team returned to New Orleans in 2007. A new official game ball was introduced on June 28, 2006, for

3332-734: The NBA owners began a lockout that suspended all league business until a new labor agreement could be reached, which led to the season being shortened to 50 games. After the breakup of the Chicago Bulls championship roster in the summer of 1998, the Western Conference dominated much of the next two decades. The Los Angeles Lakers , coached by Phil Jackson , and the San Antonio Spurs , coached by Gregg Popovich , combined to make 13 Finals in 16 seasons, with 10 titles. " Twin Towers " Tim Duncan and David Robinson won

3430-598: The New York Giants and New York Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey , US, was expected to eclipse both deals, with experts estimating it would value US$ 25–30 million annually. It ultimately fell short of that benchmark, with MetLife Stadium earning $ 17 million annually from its naming rights deal with MetLife . Occasionally, the purchaser of a stadium's naming rights may choose to donate those rights to an outside organization, typically one to which it

3528-507: The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Spurs, and lost in a re-match with the Spurs in the 2014 Finals . The 2011–12 season began with another lockout , the league's fourth. After the first few weeks of the season were canceled, the players and owners ratified a new collective bargaining agreement on December 8, 2011, setting up a shortened 66-game season. On February 1, 2014, commissioner David Stern retired after 30 years in

3626-818: The Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, the Syracuse Nationals to Philadelphia to become the Philadelphia 76ers , and the St. Louis Hawks moving to Atlanta , as well as the addition of its first expansion franchises. The Chicago Packers (now Washington Wizards ) became the ninth NBA team in 1961. From 1966 to 1968, the league expanded from 9 to 14 teams, introducing the Chicago Bulls , Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder ), San Diego Rockets (who moved to Houston four years later), Milwaukee Bucks , and Phoenix Suns . In 1967,

3724-599: The Portland Trail Blazers , Cleveland Cavaliers , and Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers ) all made their debuts expanding the league to 17. The New Orleans Jazz (now in Utah ) came aboard in 1974 bringing the total to 18. Following the 1976 season, the leagues reached a settlement that provided for the addition of four ABA franchises to the NBA, raising the number of franchises in

3822-773: The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center . Walgreen Coast , a portion of the coast of Antarctica , was so named because the Walgreens pharmacy chain sponsored the Byrd Antarctic Expedition . National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association ( NBA ) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada ). It

3920-649: The Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, and later shifted to St. Louis in 1955. In 1957, the Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York , to Cincinnati and the Pistons moved from Fort Wayne, Indiana , to Detroit. Japanese-American Wataru Misaka is considered to have broken the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks in the BAA. He remained

4018-420: The University of Kentucky while also gaining the upper hand in Indianapolis with the creation of the Indianapolis Olympians while the Kautskys folded. With several teams facing financial difficulties, the BAA and the NBL agreed on a merger on August 3, 1949, to create the National Basketball Association. Maurice Podoloff , the president of BAA, became the president of the NBA while Ike Duffey , president of

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4116-488: The Winston Cup Series featured sponsor names (including the Daytona 500 , which was given a presenting sponsor as the Daytona 500 by STP ), with little or no reference to the original names. As of the 2010s, very few exceptions remain in NASCAR (such as the Daytona 500, which no longer uses the presenting sponsor), and typically races without sponsor names only lack them because a suitable sponsor could not be secured in enough time. IndyCar follows suit, with most races (except

4214-400: The 10 largest football stadiums have their naming rights sold to corporate sponsors. The practice is widening in the United Kingdom; for instance the current stadium of Bolton Wanderers is the Toughsheet Community Stadium (after 17 years as Reebok Stadium, 4 as Macron Stadium and 5 as the University of Bolton stadium) and Arsenal Football Club 's stadium (opened for the 2006/2007 season) is

4312-415: The 10 seasons of the 1980s, Johnson led the Lakers to five titles while Bird led the Celtics to three titles. Also in the early 1980s, the NBA added one more expansion franchise, the Dallas Mavericks , bringing the total to 23 teams. Later on, Larry Bird won the first three three-point shooting contests. On February 1, 1984 David Stern became commissioner of the NBA. Stern has been recognized as playing

4410-466: The 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA title. Prior to the 1948–49 season, the BAA lured away the Fort Wayne Pistons , Indianapolis Kautskys , Minneapolis Lakers , and Rochester Royals from the NBL with the prospect of playing in major venues such as Boston Garden and Madison Square Garden . The NBL hit back by outbidding the BAA for the services of several players, including Al Cervi , rookie Dolph Schayes and five stars from

4508-515: The 2006–07 season, marking the first change to the ball in over 35 years and only the second ball in 60 seasons. Manufactured by Spalding , the new ball featured a new design and new synthetic material that Spalding claimed offered a better grip, feel, and consistency than the original ball. However, many players were vocal in their disdain for the new ball, saying that it was too sticky when dry, and too slippery when wet. Commissioner Stern announced on December 11, 2006, that beginning January 1, 2007,

4606-410: The 2008–09 season. The first outdoor game in the modern era of the league was played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on October 11, 2008, between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets . The first official NBA league games on European ground took place in 2011. In two matchups, the New Jersey Nets faced the Toronto Raptors at the O2 Arena in London in front of over 20,000 fans. After

4704-433: The 2012–13 season, the New Orleans Hornets were renamed the Pelicans . During the 2013–14 season, Stern retired as commissioner after 30 years, and deputy commissioner Adam Silver ascended to the position of commissioner. During that season's playoffs, the Bobcats officially reclaimed the Hornets name, and by agreement with the league and the Pelicans, also received sole ownership of all history, records, and statistics from

4802-499: The Bulls to two three-peats in eight years during the 1991–1998 seasons. Hakeem Olajuwon won back-to-back titles with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995. The 1992 Olympic basketball Dream Team , the first to use current NBA stars, featured Michael Jordan as the anchor, along with Bird, Johnson, David Robinson , Patrick Ewing , Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler , Karl Malone , John Stockton , Chris Mullin , Charles Barkley , and star NCAA amateur Christian Laettner . The team

4900-443: The Cardinals' new stadium which opened on April 4, 2006. Foxboro Stadium , the home of the New England Patriots between 1971 and 2001, was an early example of a team selling naming rights to a company that did not own it, naming the stadium Schaefer Stadium after the beer company from its opening until 1983. The public reaction to this practice is mixed. Naming rights sold to new venues have largely been accepted, especially if

4998-401: The Cardinals, " Budweiser Stadium". When this idea was rejected by Ford Frick , the Commissioner of Baseball at that time, Anheuser-Busch then proposed the title "Busch Stadium" after one of the company's founders. The name was readily approved, and Anheuser-Busch subsequently released a new product called "Busch Bavarian Beer" (now known as Busch Beer ). The name would later be shifted to

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5096-435: The Evraz steel company – mistakenly believing that the company's North American division was based there. However, the main motivation for accelerating the name change was the perceived need to disassociate with the steel company, largely owned by Russian oligarchs, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . A nonprofit organization has the option to recognize a major gift from a donor by bestowing naming rights to

5194-457: The Minneapolis Lakers won five NBA championships and established themselves as the league's first dynasty ; their squad was led by center George Mikan who was the NBA's first superstar . To encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics , which already featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach , and went on to lead

5292-404: The NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged , adding four franchises to the NBA. The NBA's regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The league's playoff tournament extends into June, culminating with the NBA Finals championship series. As of 2020 , NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player. The NBA

5390-405: The NBA from 1959 to 1966. This championship streak is the longest in the history of American professional sports. They did not win the title in 1966–67 , but regained it in the 1967–68 season and repeated in 1969 . The domination totaled nine of the ten championship banners of the 1960s. Through this period, the NBA continued to evolve with the shift of the Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles,

5488-408: The NBA would return to the traditional leather basketball in use prior to the 2006–07 season. The change was influenced by frequent player complaints and confirmed hand injuries (cuts) caused by the microfiber ball. The Players' Association had filed a suit on behalf of the players against the NBA over the new ball. As of the 2017–18 season , the NBA team jerseys are manufactured by Nike , replacing

5586-549: The NBA's actions to combat the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. The NBA started its drug-testing program in 1983 and substantially improved it in 1999. In the 1999–2000 season, all players were randomly tested during training camp, and all rookies were additionally tested three more times during the regular season. Of the nearly 4,200 tests for steroids and performance-enhancing drugs conducted over six seasons, only three players were confirmed positive for NBA's drug program, all were immediately suspended, and as of

5684-402: The NBL, became the chairman. The NBA later adopted the BAA's history and statistics as its own but did not do the same for NBL records and statistics. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as large arenas and smaller gymnasiums and armories . In 1950, the NBA consolidated to eleven franchises, a process that continued until 1954–55, when

5782-410: The Pelicans' time in Charlotte. As a result, the Hornets are now officially considered to have been founded in 1988, suspended operations in 2002, and resumed in 2004 as the Bobcats, while the Pelicans are officially treated as a 2002 expansion team. (This is somewhat similar to the relationship between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens in the NFL .) Donald Sterling , who was then-owner of

5880-481: The United States include Madrid Metro where the metro line Line 2 and the station Sol was renamed from 2013 to 2016 after the mobile phone operator Vodafone , and Monumento Station in the Manila Light Rail Transit System in the Philippines , which was renamed Yamaha Monumento Station on February 14, 2018, after renovations. Naming rights in the realm of sports is common for both stadiums and sports competitions and series. In addition, some sports teams adopt

5978-413: The WA Basketball Centre was officially opened on 24 January 2010. The combined construction cost of the WA Athletics Stadium, WA Basketball Centre and supporting infrastructure was $ 73 million, with the basketball facilities costing approximately $ 40 million. The WA Rugby Centre later joined the precinct on adjacent land. On 1 October 2014, Basketball Western Australia took on the day-to-day operations of

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6076-405: The Warriors faced each other in the Finals a record four consecutive times . In the 2015–16 season, the Warriors finished the season 73–9, the best season record in NBA history . However, the Cavaliers overcame a 3–1 deficit in the Finals to win their first championship that season, and end a 52-year professional sports championship drought for the city of Cleveland . In the 2016–17 season,

6174-414: The Warriors recruited free agent Kevin Durant and went on to win the 2017 and 2018 Finals against the Cavaliers. After the departure of James in free agency in 2018, the Cavaliers' streak of playoff and Finals appearances ended. The Warriors returned for a fifth consecutive Finals appearance in 2019 but lost to the Toronto Raptors, who won their first championship after acquiring Kawhi Leonard in

6272-402: The allegations and said Donaghy was a convicted felon and a "singing, cooperating witness". Donaghy served 15 months in prison and was released in November 2009. According to an independent study by Ronald Beech of Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, although the refs increased the Lakers' chances of winning through foul calls during

6370-480: The arena, having held them since the venue's opening in 1999). The home of the NHL 's Los Angeles Kings and NBA 's Los Angeles Lakers became known as Crypto.com Arena on December 25, 2021. Prior to the Crypto.com Arena deal, the record belonged to Toronto's Scotiabank Arena (formerly the Air Canada Centre, which opened in 1999), which garnered a deal of CA$ 800 million (US$ 517 million) over 20 years starting in 2018. The New Meadowlands Stadium, shared home of

6468-516: The buyer is well-established and has strong local connections to the area, such as the cases of Rich Stadium (now Highmark BlueCross BlueShield Stadium ) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park , Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh , and Coors Field in Denver . Selling the naming rights to an already-existing venue has been notably less successful, as in the attempt to rename Candlestick Park in San Francisco to 3Com Park. The general public (and some media outlets) continued to call

6566-464: The continuous near year-over-year decline in NBA viewership. Between 2012 and 2019, the league lost 40 to 45 percent of its viewership. While some of it can be attributed to "cable-cutting", other professional leagues, like the NFL and MLB have retained stable viewership demographics. The opening game of the 2020 Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat brought in only 7.41 million viewers to ABC, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That

6664-463: The corporation or brand at the end (or, sometimes, beginning) of a generic, usually traditional, name (e.g. Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome ); or, a title sponsor replaces the original name of the property with a corporate-sponsored one (as is the case with most sponsored sports venues), with no reference to the previous name. Stadium naming may have shifted in recent years to promoting corporate trade names, but in earlier decades

6762-433: The crumbling former Commonwealth Games facilities at Perry Lakes . Being built across the road from the old Perry Lakes Athletics Stadium and Perry Lakes Basketball Stadium , the new facilities would join the sports precinct which was already home to Perth Superdrome (more commonly known as Challenge Stadium), the Western Australian Institute of Sport , and UWA Sports Park. While the WA Athletics Stadium opened in 2009,

6860-560: The design of Jerry Dior's Major League Baseball logo a year prior, created the modern NBA logo inspired by the MLB's. It incorporates the silhouette of Jerry West , based on a photo by Wen Roberts. The NBA would not confirm that a particular player was used because, according to Siegel, "They want to institutionalize it rather than individualize it. It's become such a ubiquitous, classic symbol and focal point of their identity and their licensing program that they don't necessarily want to identify it with one player." The logo debuted in 1971 (with

6958-401: The early 2000s, many new categories have opened up, such as the selling of the rights to name a new monkey species for $ 650,000. Naming rights to public transit stations have been sold in Las Vegas and Philadelphia ( NRG station , Jefferson Station , and Penn Medicine station ). Such sales have been contemplated in New York and Boston , and ruled out in San Francisco. A sponsorship for

7056-552: The facility what it had been known as for over three decades – i.e. Candlestick Park. After the agreement with 3Com expired, the rights were resold to Monster Cable , and the stadium was renamed Monster Park . San Francisco voters responded by passing an initiative (Proposition H) in the November 2004 elections that essentially stipulated the name must revert to Candlestick Park once the contract with Monster expired in 2008. The initiative proved largely ceremonial, however, and it

7154-613: The first European coach to become a head coach for a team in the NBA. In the 2023–24 season , the Mavericks and the Thunder each had eight international players on their roster. For six consecutive seasons from 2018–19 to 2023–24 , the league's MVP award has been given to an international player. In 2001, an affiliated minor league , the National Basketball Development League, now called

7252-545: The franchise to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a dominant individual star of the 1960s, setting new single-game records in scoring ( 100 ) and rebounding (55). Russell's rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports. The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics. Led by Russell, Cousy, and Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships in

7350-494: The game, there was no collusion to fix the game. On alleged "star treatment" during Game 6 by the referees toward certain players, Beech claimed, "there does seem to be issues with different standards and allowances for different players." The NBA Board of Governors approved the request of the Seattle SuperSonics to move to Oklahoma City on April 18, 2008. The team, however, could not move until it had settled

7448-409: The general public. Some people see it as an example of a selling out , especially when they see no obvious benefit to themselves. They often refuse to use a new name, preferring instead to use a non-branded name, especially in colloquial situations. Rebranding can also lead to confusion. In such cases, there may be a lengthy period during which the property is known by both names. A common example

7546-464: The largest crowd ever, 108,713. A referee lockout began on September 1, 2009, when the contract between the NBA and its referees expired. The first preseason games were played on October 1, 2009, and replacement referees from the WNBA and NBA Development League were used, the first time replacement referees had been used since the beginning of the 1995–96 season. The NBA and the regular referees reached

7644-638: The league at that time to 22. The franchises added were the San Antonio Spurs , Denver Nuggets , Indiana Pacers , and New York Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets). Some of the biggest stars of this era were Abdul-Jabbar, Barry, Dave Cowens , Erving, Elvin Hayes , Walt Frazier , Moses Malone , Artis Gilmore , George Gervin , Dan Issel , and Pete Maravich . The end of the decade, however, saw declining TV ratings, low attendance and drug-related player issues – both perceived and real – that threatened to derail

7742-647: The league faced a new external threat with the formation of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The leagues engaged in a bidding war. The NBA landed the most important college star of the era, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor), who went on to become the league's best player of the 1970s. However, the NBA's leading scorer, Rick Barry , jumped to the ABA, as did four veteran referees— Norm Drucker , Earl Strom , John Vanak, and Joe Gushue. In 1969, Alan Siegel , who oversaw

7840-444: The league reached its smallest size of eight franchises: the New York Knicks , Boston Celtics , Philadelphia Warriors , Minneapolis Lakers , Rochester Royals , Fort Wayne Pistons , Milwaukee Hawks , and Syracuse Nationals , all of which remain in the league today, although the latter six all did eventually relocate. The process of contraction saw the league's smaller-city franchises move to larger cities. The Hawks had shifted from

7938-459: The league. The league added the ABA's three-point field goal beginning in 1979. That same year, rookies Larry Bird and Magic Johnson joined the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers respectively, initiating a period of significant growth of fan interest in the NBA. The two had faced each other in the 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game , and they later played against each other in three NBA Finals (1984, 1985, and 1987). In

8036-571: The league. The NBA defines "international" players as those born outside the 50 United States and Washington, D.C. This means that: The beginning of the 2017–18 season saw a record 108 international players representing 42 countries marking 4 consecutive years of at least 100 international players and each team having at least one international player. In 2018, the Phoenix Suns hired Serbian coach Igor Kokoškov as their new head coach, replacing Canadian interim coach Jay Triano , making Kokoškov

8134-781: The major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1, 1946, in Toronto , Ontario, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens , in a game the NBA now refers to as the first game played in NBA history. The first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. Although there had been earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues, including

8232-410: The mid-2000s in most major league sites where only known sponsors have advertising displayed, "neutralizing" an arena has become a much easier process than in the past. Regina, Saskatchewan 's REAL District was formerly named " Evraz Place"; when discussing its 2022 rebranding, its owner Regina Exhibition Association Limited stated that it had sometimes received shipments and communications meant for

8330-562: The only non-white player in league history prior to the first African-American, Harold Hunter , signing with the Washington Capitols in 1950. Hunter was cut from the team during training camp, but several African-American players did play in the league later that year, including Chuck Cooper with the Celtics, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton with the Knicks, and Earl Lloyd with the Washington Capitols . During this period,

8428-678: The opening of Fenway Park in Boston . The stadium's owner had owned a realty company called "Fenway Realty" (itself, like the stadium, named for a nearby parkland ), so the promotional value of the naming may have likely been considered. Despite this, it is more widely believed to have begun in 1926 when William Wrigley , the chewing gum magnate and owner of the Chicago Cubs , named his team's stadium " Wrigley Field ". In 1953, Anheuser-Busch head and St. Louis Cardinals owner August Busch, Jr. proposed renaming Sportsman's Park , occupied by

8526-435: The past two seasons and that he made calls affecting the point spread in those games. On August 15, 2007, Donaghy pleaded guilty to two federal charges related to the investigation . Donaghy claimed in 2008 that certain referees were friendly with players and "company men" for the NBA, and he alleged that referees influenced the outcome of certain playoff and finals games in 2002 and 2005. NBA commissioner David Stern denied

8624-611: The position, and was succeeded by his deputy, Adam Silver . After four seasons with the Miami Heat, LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2014–15 season. He led the team to their second Finals appearance with the help of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love . The Golden State Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in six games, led by the " Splash Brothers " Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson . The Cavaliers and

8722-533: The previous supplier, Adidas . All teams will wear jerseys with the Nike logo except the Charlotte Hornets , whose jerseys will instead have the Jumpman logo associated with longtime Nike endorser Michael Jordan , who owns the Hornets. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began an investigation on July 19, 2007, over allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games he officiated over

8820-452: The program ; examples include The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour , Texaco Star Theatre and The Philco Television Playhouse . This form of sponsorship fell out of favor in the late 1950s, although later examples include Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom , which originally aired from 1963 to 1988. One of the last surviving examples is the now irregularly-airing Hallmark Hall of Fame , on the air since 1951. The International Star Registry

8918-433: The stadium under a co-management agreement with VenuesWest, with VenuesWest continuing to maintain the facility after being the sole operator since its opening. On 6 May 2015, the stadium was renamed Bendat Basketball Centre in a 21-year sponsorship agreement in honour of Perth Wildcats owner Dr. Jack Bendat . On 23 March 2020, the stadium was closed to the public indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The stadium

9016-448: The time of the testimony, none were playing in the NBA. After the Spurs won the championship again in 2005 , the 2006 Finals featured two franchises making their inaugural Finals appearances. The Miami Heat , led by their star shooting guard, Dwyane Wade , and Shaquille O'Neal, who had been traded from the Lakers during the summer of 2004, won the series over the Dallas Mavericks . The Lakers/Spurs dominance continued in 2007 with

9114-420: The uneven talent distribution between the conferences and the cord-cutting of younger viewers as the main reason for the decline. During the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, the Milwaukee Bucks would defeat the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals , securing their second NBA championship since 1971, and the Golden State Warriors made their sixth appearance in the finals defeating the Boston Celtics in

9212-447: The very traditional Indianapolis 500 ) embracing title sponsorship. Sports media coverage (such as ESPN news reports) typically refer to races by the town in which the home race track is held, avoiding the use of sponsored names in news coverage. Television and radio series, especially in the early days of each medium in the early-mid 20th century, frequently sold the naming rights to their programs to sponsors, most of whom bankrolled

9310-680: Was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame , while 11 of the 12 players (along with three out of four coaches) have been inducted as individuals in their own right. In 1995, the NBA expanded to Canada with the addition of the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors . In 1996, the NBA created a women's league, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 1998,

9408-893: Was known as the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Team names and even whole leagues have occasionally been sold to corporate sponsors as well (examples include the New York Red Bulls in the former case, the NET10 Wireless Arena Football League for the latter), but this is generally rare in the United States and more common in other parts of the world. During the 1980s, sanctioned auto races in NASCAR and IndyCar began to abandon their traditional names in favor of exclusive sponsor names. The trend expanded rapidly in NASCAR such that in 1991, all 29 races in

9506-426: Was overturned by the passage of Proposition C in 2009 in response to desperate economic times. The naming rights to the park were never resold and the stadium was closed and demolished in 2014. Sports stadiums with naming rights deals are most common in but not limited to the United States. "Named" stadiums can be found in countries including Australia, Japan, China, Finland, Canada, Israel and Germany, where 8 of

9604-399: Was reopened on 25 May 2020, initially in a limited capacity. Naming rights The distinctive characteristic for this type of naming rights is that the buyer gets a marketing property to promote products and services, promote customer retention and/or increase market share. There are several forms of corporate sponsored names. For example, a presenting sponsor attaches the name of

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