Li-Ning Stays Close To Basketball Roots: Nets Jimmy Butler

Chinese sports brand Li-Ning has secured a multi-year shoe endorsement deal from Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler.

The 31-year-old NBA star has been without a footwear partnership since he and Nike’s Jordan Brand mutually agreed to part ways at the start of this year, ten months before their original contract was due to expire at the end of September.

While financial terms of Butler’s deal with Li-Ning were not made public, media reports described it as ‘significant’ and added the five-time All-Star will be ‘the current face of the brand’.

Apart from a lifetime deal with Butler’s former teammate Dwanye Wade, who retired at the end of the 2018/19 season, the Chinese brand also has deals with the likes of the Denver Nuggets’ RJ Hampton, Minnesota Timberwolves D’Angelo Russell and Portland Trail Blazers’ CJ McCollum.

Butler, 31, is the 52nd highest paid athlete in the world, according to Forbes, which estimates that he earns US$3m a year from his endorsements. 

Meanwhile in Asia, Li –Ning  which  has the second largest player for the sports apparel category (13.9%,  ~US$180.4m)  since Q118 in the Asian sponsorship , has finally seen a recovery in Q420 to reach almost US$20.4m after two previous cautious quarters in Q220 and Q320 where spends reached a mere total of US$4.2m, mainly due to the impact of the pandemic affecting sporting events,  The brand has consistently invested in basketball sponsorship across Asia,  including a long-term blockbuster deal worth over US$66m with the CBA League as well as backing the Asean Basketball League.