Best Sports Collaborations in 2024
By
Richard Janvrin
Contributor Updated: 11 April 2024
Richard Janvrin Contributor
Richard has been writing about sports since he was a teenager. Still, his first professional role came in 2015, covering all things NFL and fantasy football-related. From there, in December 2018, he started in the sports betting industry, covering sportsbook reviews before arriving to where he is today.
Best Sports Collaborations
Professional sports teams and various types of brands have collaborated for decades. These sports collabs allow brands to integrate into topics and interests outside the teams themselves.
These sports brand partnerships include fashion, sports betting platforms, production companies, and more. Partnerships of this sort can also delve more into the “behind the scenes” of a player or team.
Below, we’ll review some of the best sports collaborations in recent memory.
What Are The Best Sports Collaborations in 2024?
Whenever sports go beyond the game played on the court, field, or track, there’s an opportunity for these teams to gain an enormous fan following — that’s where sports collaborations come into play.
Below are four sports collaborations: production companies, sports betting sites, and fashion brands.
Continue reading to learn more about these collaborations.
- Amazon TV and LSU Tigers
- Colorado Buffaloes and Louis Vuitton
- Denver Broncos and FanDuel
- Las Vegas Raiders and Born X Raised
Amazon TV and LSU Tigers
In January 2024, Deadline Hollywood reported that LSU agreed to terms with Amazon Prime Video to develop a docuseries titled “The Money Game.”
Campfire Film & TV is producing this show with assistance from Axios Entertainment and Jersey Legends. Jersey Legends is a production company owned by Shaquille O’Neal, an LSU alum.
The show aims to showcase the impact of the “name, image, and likeness” era prevailing over college sports. Of course, LSU is home to several big-name stars, including Olivia Dunne, Angel Reese, Jayden Daniels, and more.
Several top-tier LSU athletes have sports brand partnerships, including Daniels with Raising Canes, Dunne with Leaf Trading Cards, Reese with Reebok, etc.
“Our motto around here: One state, two colors, three letters — forever LSU,” Cody Worsham, the chief brand officer of LSU, said. “And what that essentially means is, the one-state piece is, we are the brand of Louisiana. Like we’re not competing with another Power Five school. It’s not Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi State or Ole Miss.
“This is LSU. It’s Louisiana. You’re going to come here, you’re going to be a star across the state.”
The school receives $1 million for exclusive rights, and the players involved are also receiving payment under NIL restrictions.
It’ll be intriguing to see, over the long term, how NIL deals like this will impact things like when we bet on the NBA or other sports—will kids choose to stay in school longer?
However, coaches like football coach Brian Kelly aren’t getting paid for it.
The show takes place over an average of 16 weeks, stretching nearly a full year from July 2023 to June 2024. There’s no known release date for the program.
Sport and Fashion: Colorado Buffaloes and Louis Vuitton
Since coming to the Colorado Buffaloes before the 2023 season, head coach Deion Sanders has looked to make his mark on the program. While that included his sons Shedeur and Shilo playing for the team, it also included bringing a certain culture and value to the players playing for him.
The team started the 2023 campaign going 3-0, beating TCU, Nebraska, and Colorado State, but finished a mere 1-8 over their final nine games, only defeating Arizona State.
When Coach Prime arrived in Colorado, he referenced Louis Vuitton. Now, the school is collaborating with high-end brands, merging sports and fashion.
Partnerships in sports marketing are pretty standard, sure, but for a college program, these levels of collaboration are still fairly new, especially with NIL involved.
In January, Shedeur and Shilo were seen walking the runway with Louis Vuitton’s 2024 fall-winter line. Shilo wore a camouflage bubble boat, a buttons-won plaid shirt, brown pants, and a duffle bag. As for Shedeur, he wore a green pearl button-down shirt under an orange best.
At the show in Paris, Sanders caught up with Pharrell Williams, the brand’s creative director for menswear, and asked for some merchandise.
As for the football team partnership, several spreads include fashionable jerseys and the potential for other merchandise, including apparel, accessories, and collectibles. We rarely see a sports team partner up with a fashion brand of this magnitude.
Sports Collabs: Denver Broncos and FanDuel
Delving into the sports betting realm, we look back at FanDuel Sportsbook and the Denver Broncos.
While this partnership didn’t occur in 2024, it’s worth noting as they dubbed it the “first official sports betting partnership with an NFL franchise.” The deal came in June 2020, after FanDuel partnered with Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Golden Gates Casino Black Hawk.
While players cannot link up with sports betting outfits, the NFL allows teams to list an “official” sportsbook partner. However, that doesn’t include stadium and practice facility naming rights.
With this partnership, FanDuel gained access to team logos and likenesses, unlocking a host of opportunities in the marketing realm, making this one of the best sports collaborations to date.
Additional marketing materials include signage in the stadium, radio/television advertisements, and more.
While FanDuel partnered with the Indianapolis Colts before this, that was under the guise of their daily fantasy sports platform.
With Colorado legalizing sports betting around this time, this collaboration was done to legitimize FanDuel more with Broncos fans and bettors in the state.
Las Vegas Raiders and Born X Raised
While this collaboration began in 2022, it opened up doors for Born X Raised even more. As of December 19, 2023, Born X Raise has collaborations with various NFL teams, including the San Francisco 49ers, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Las Vegas Raiders, the Los Angeles Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Raiders partnership began in August 2022 and partnered with the streetwear brand.
New Era, which provides on-field headwear, had previously collaborated with Born X Raised.
“Connecting our history as an organization with the popularity of the Born X Raised West Coast streetwear aesthetic was a natural fit,” Cristina McAloon, Senior Buying Manager for the Raider Image, told USA TODAY Sports+ in an email.
With the sport and fashion collab, Born X Raised looked to offer up a complete history of the Raiders, from Los Angeles to Oakland to Las Vegas.
That initial lined featured hoodies, t-shirts, and hats with black and white color schemes, the Raiders logo, Super Bowl logos from their three titles, and Old English font.
“This collection pays homage to Raider Nation, our incredibly loyal fanbase — but it’s about more than just t-shirts, caps, and hoods,” McAloon said. “Born X Raised resonates with the community and has a sense of authenticity and pride that comes with their designs.
“The Raiders are very similar in that sense, as our family is what matters most. So, when you flip the Born X Raised logo to Raider Nation, incorporate our Super Bowl championships, and represent the line in team colors — we are now celebrating two brands while highlighting the people who got us here, in an elevated way.”
At the time, snapback hates were $50 and hoodie about $130.
Fast-forward to 2023, they dropped a collaborative drop on December 21, 2023 in partnership with several NFL teams as mentioned above.
Wrapping Up
As you can see above, the collaborations between sports teams and fashion brands, technology companies, and sportsbooks are only growing. These serve as an excellent way to get more individuals to notice these teams and become fans of them, if not for nothing else, their partnerships with brands they enjoy.
Now, we look ahead to see the next big collaborations as 2024 unfolds.
