76ers Ink Jersey Patch Deal with Bloom Energy
By Tom Friend
Punctuating a high-profile offseason, the 76ers named Bloom Energy their jersey patch sponsor on Monday with plans to unveil the updated uniform when they roll out new star players LeBron James and Jaylen Brown at Monday’s media day. Silicon Valley-based Bloom Energy already has partnerships with the Sharks, the 49ers and the Warriors. But -- with a large manufacturing hub located roughly 40 miles from Philadelphia in Newark, Del. -- the onsite-power company pursued the jersey deal this summer with the 76ers, facilitated by Elevate. Asked if the acquisitions of James and Brown added to the lure of the deal -- considering the 76ers are on national television 34 times this coming season -- Bloom Energy founder & CEO KR Sridhar said, “It was a cherry on the top is what I called it.”
Financial terms of the multiyear arrangement were undisclosed, although both sides said they will collaborate on a seven-figure community investment that includes a Jr. 76ers Summer Hoops Tour, court refurbishments in the region and joint appearances at schools and other areas of need. Bloom Energy, which has 1,200 employees at its Delaware plant and has been ensconced in greater Philadelphia for 15 years, will also become the marquee jersey sponsor of the 76ers’ G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
“It’s been a great off-season for us,” said Tad Brown, CEO of HBSE and the 76ers. “And I say that from a standpoint of we’ve had a lot of change ... certainly with the moves that [GM] Mike [Gansey] and [President of HBSE Sports] Bob Myers have started with, building the team. ... The Jaylen trade, which set the stage, it set Philly on fire when that first happened. ... And then arguably the greatest player in NBA history making his decision to come to Philadelphia. That was the time earlier in the summer when we decided that we think it’s time to get out there and to really get in the market again. And we were incredibly fortunate that KR and his team were interested in speaking to us.”
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Bloom Energy’s core business is providing clean onsite power at locations such as hospitals, college campuses, data centers, factories and retailers -- to ensure those places don’t have to rely on traditional power grids. Comcast, a minority owner of the 76ers, is a Bloom customer in the Philadelphia area, for example, and the company has already supported workforce development, STEM education, veterans and first responders in the region.
“When we first started talking about this deal, it was, ‘OK, here’s the concept of the patch,’ and then it was about how do we integrate this within the community?” Brown said. “We saw that as very meaningful and instrumental to actually helping us get this deal done.”