Benzinga | Oct 19, 2021 05:45PM EDT

Coinbase Shares Jump On NBA Partnership: What Investors Should Know

A leading cryptocurrency platform announced a partnership with the National Basketball Association on the day the league is set to kick off its 75th anniversary.

What Happened: The National Basketball Association announced its first cryptocurrency sponsorship in a partnerhsip with Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN).

"We're excited to announce that as of today we are the official crypto platform of the NBA, WNBA, NBA2KLeague and USA Basketball," Coinbase tweeted, tagging the respective leagues.

"As part of the partnership, we will create interactive experiences to engage with the NBA and WNBA's incredible community and athletes around the world," Coinbase Chief Marketing Officer Kate Rouch told CNBC in a statement.

Related Link: Coinbase Set To Take On Opensea With NFT Platform: What Investors Need To Know

Why It's Important: The NBA has been earlier with cryptocurrency and NFTs. The league has the highly successful NBA Top Shot partnership with Dapper Labs. The Miami Heat have an arena naming deal with FTX and several teams have patch sponsorships with cryptocurrency companies.

The NBA is projecting $10 billion in revenue for the 2021-22 season thanks to the return of fans. Sponsorship revenue was $1.4 billion last season.

The NBA kicks off its 75th season with a doubleheader of marquee matchups. The Brooklyn Nets take on the Milwaukee Bucks at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Golden State Warriors take on the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. ET. Both games will air on TNT, a unit of AT&T Inc (NYSE:T).

COIN Price Action: Coinbase shares were up 4% to $305.63 on Tuesday.