Official Automotive Partner of the NBA adds New Luxury Designation and Expands the Kia Performance Awards Platform

-- NBA All-Star LeBron James will be featured in New Kia Ad Campaign Launching Today --

NEW YORK, Oct. 28, 2014 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Kia Motors America, Inc. (KMA) today announced a new multiyear extension of their marketing partnership, which began in 2008.  In addition to continuing to serve as the league’s Official Automotive Partner, Kia also now is recognized as the Official Luxury Vehicle of the NBA, following the recent introduction of the brand’s modern and elegant K900 rear-drive luxury sedan.  Kia will continue as the Official Automotive Partner of NBA All-Star and the title partner of Kia NBA Tip-Off, the Kia NBA Performance Awards, and the Kia NBA All-Star MVP award. Kia also will expand its relationship to serve as an Official Automotive Partner of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and NBA Development League (NBA D-League). 

Earlier this month, Kia announced LeBron James as its K900 Luxury Ambassador.  To celebrate the start of the NBA season and Kia NBA Tip-Off 2014, Kia also will debut a new television spot tonight called “Valet” featuring James, who joins a growing roster of Kia endorsers, which includes Los Angeles Clippers All-Star forward Blake Griffin.

Additionally, Kia has partnerships with 14 NBA teams after recently adding the Cleveland Cavaliers to its roster, which also includes: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, and San Antonio Spurs.

Kia Motors is prominently featured throughout this week’s Kia NBA Tip-Off 2014, including integration across numerous media assets, such as the countdown clock on NBA.com and NBA TV, courtside signage, and social media and integration in the league’s extensive “Everybody Up” campaign.

To further reinforce the brand’s association with top NBA performances, Kia will introduce a new Top Plays platform on NBA.com.  Each week fans will have the opportunity to vote on top plays, and at season’s end, the highlight with the most fan votes will be named the Top Play of the Year.  In addition to helping select the year’s top play, fans will have the opportunity to help dictate the direction of a highlight-based commercial. Throughout the season, the NBA will post exciting clips via Twitter and Vine for fan consideration.  Plays that receive considerable retweets and loops, respectively, will be aggregated into an end-of-season television commercial, scheduled to debut during The Finals.

“As one of Kia’s longest-running partnerships, our involvement with the NBA and teams has driven dramatic increases in consumer awareness, perception and consideration for the brand, and we are excited to extend our partnership and continue connecting with the league and its passionate fans,” said Tim Chaney, Vice President of Marketing Communications, KMA.  “Like the NBA, Kia is a brand that appeals to a broad segment of the American market and through our expanded partnership as Official Luxury Vehicle of the NBA, we hope to bring the K900 flagship sedan to the forefront and bring confident, independent thinkers to Kia’s showrooms.”

“Kia is deeply integrated into the NBA experience year round – from Kia NBA Tip-Off, NBA All-Star, the monthly and season-ending Performance Awards, and the WNBA – through a variety of unique content offerings and promotions,” said Emilio Collins, NBA Executive Vice President, Global Marketing Partnerships.  “Building off of Kia’s equity in our prestigious end-of-season Kia NBA Performance Awards, we’re excited to continue to grow the platform with a seasonlong fan engagement program that gives them a voice around some of our most exciting content.”

Throughout the partnership, Kia will help the league engage fans across additional innovative programming, advertisements, and sweepstakes during the NBA season, including a Holiday Gift promotion on NBA.com that will provide fans the chance to win a Kia Optima and other exciting NBA prizing.

About the NBA
The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League.  The league has established a major international presence with offices in 13 markets worldwide, games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2013-14 season featured a record 92 international players from 39 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, which is available in 60 million U.S. homes, and NBA.com, which recorded 26.9 billion page views during the 2013-14 season, with more than half of all visitors originating from outside of North America.  The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with 700 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league and its teams and players have donated more than $242 million to charity, completed more than 3 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 915 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play. 

Contact:

Kim Mandara, NBA, (212) 407-8158, kmandara@nba.com

* The Sorento and Optima GDI (EX, SX & Limited and certain LX Trims only) are assembled in the United States from U.S. and globally sourced parts.

** 2015 K900 V8 available in select trims and in select markets with limited availability.