Bumble Pays Big Bucks To Put Their Logo On LA Clippers Jerseys
8 years ago

Even though I’m a lifelong New Jersey Brooklyn Nets fan, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Los Angeles Clippers. It all started when I was eight years old and saw a SportsCenter report on just how historically bad they were. Ever since then, I’ve rooted for them out of pity, although they made it hard for me during the Donald Sterling years, to get out of the basement of the NBA’s standings.

Those of you who watch the NBA noticed that, this year, the NBA started allowing advertisements on jerseys. I’m personally against the idea. Putting ads on jerseys is a one-way ticket to professional basketball becoming “Three Billboards over Lebron James.”

Still, every NBA team is lining up to do it, mostly because companies are throwing millions and millions of dollars at them. At least the Clippers brought in an unlikely suspect.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Bumble, a social network company best known for a dating app in which women make the first move, will place its logo on the uniforms of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team.

Bumble will pay about $20 million over three years, according to a person familiar with the deal who asked not to be identified because the terms are private. It’s part of a broader agreement between the company and Steve Ballmer’s NBA franchise.

For those who want to see what the jerseys are going to look like, the Clippers tweeted a few pictures.

The Clippers say that they’re partnering with Bumble to promote gender equality. Not saying it’s a bad idea, just saying I don’t see how a basketball playing advertisement is the best way to do that.

Bumble has always been the red-headed stepchild of dating apps, always growing up in the shadow of the favorite kid Tinder. For those who don’t know, Bumble is a dating app, much like Tinder, where people swipe left to right. The difference is that you can only message each other if the girl messages first.

Bumble falls short where Tinder succeeds in fun and originality. After all, there isn’t a TFM series called “Ridiculous Bumble Pickup Lines” (although some Bumble screenshots end up making it). It seems like Bumble paid $20 million dollars for people to see their ad on Clippers jerseys, look it up, and download Tinder instead.

[via Chicago Tribune]