How NBA deals are fueling this company’s growth

Brian Sozzi · Executive Editor

Tue, February 24, 2026 at 5:00 AM GMT+9

Opening Bid Unfiltered is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Can an NBA partnership really move the needle for a fast-growing apparel brand? On Opening Bid Unfiltered, Faherty Co-Founder and CEO Alex Faherty explains how signing Knicks star Jaylen Brunson as an ambassador led to a broader NBA licensing deal and deeper brand visibility for the company. Faherty breaks down how athlete partnerships strengthen customer loyalty, drive in-store traffic, and build cultural relevance in key markets like New York. It’s a candid look at how sports branding can translate into real retail momentum.

Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on our website for full episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered.

This post was written by Langston Sessoms, producer for Opening Bid Unfiltered.

Video Transcript

00:00 Speaker A

I think back to uh Abercrombie for example. Last year they signed a deal with the NFL. How does getting into sports impact your brand?

00:04 Speaker B

Um well, guys, uh care about their family and sports.

00:10 Speaker B

You know, that’s basically that’s it. That’s basically it. So, and sometimes it happens uh because of what we like and Mike and I and and and what we’re into and and really, you know, just as I said, sometimes it just happens is um when the Knicks when the Knicks signed Brunson back in uh 2021,

00:25 Speaker B

uh, we’re growing up in Jersey like Villanova and everyone knew, you know, we knew Brunson well and he grew up going to the Jersey Shore because when Rick was on the Knicks, they would go down. So I knew we had like some mutual connections and so we signed Jalen as like our first athlete ambassador.

00:40 Speaker A

Perfect.

00:40 Speaker B

And we became friends. And so Jalen’s kind of like was the the lift-off point to now we have a big partnership with the Kniccks every year. and then we just signed a big NBA license, um that we’re rolling out next October.

00:50 Speaker B

And that’s like, you know, NBA. And then, you know, hopefully next it’s NFL. And and it’s just through the relationships that um

00:58 Speaker B

that we can make. And I think one of the things about having your name on the brand is that’s what I, you know, one of the things I’m doing is I’m out there trying to meet people to um to do it. And and when you associate the brand with with someone like Jalen and the Kniccks and all of a sudden you got, you know, we got six stores in New York City, a lot of customers in New York and they’re like, oh shit, Faherty’s doing this thing with the Kniccks, like that’s cool.

01:12 Speaker A

Yeah.

01:13 Speaker B

Um, and that’s what’s up to us as as the stewards of the brand is to keep figuring out what our customer wants us to be associated with.

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