• by Karl Greenberg , August 13, 2012

American Honda has signed an exclusive partnership deal with Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets. The Barclays Center is a new sports and entertainment venue in Brooklyn, N.Y. The arena will be home to the Nets NBA franchise that, until recently, was based in Newark, N.J. 

For the Torrance, Calif.-based American Honda, this is a first-ever major sponsorship with a sports and entertainment venue on the East Coast. The deal makes Honda the official vehicle of Barclays Center and Brooklyn Nets and the 10th Founding Partner for Barclays Center, which opens its doors in late September with a concert by rapper Jay Z.

The deal gives Honda a raft of branding opportunities plus title sponsorship of the "Honda Club" at the venue. Honda also gets presenting sponsorship of "Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival," a college basketball triple-header on Dec. 15 featuring Michigan vs. West Virginia, St. John's vs. St. Francis of Brooklyn and Fordham vs. Princeton.

Honda will also have an interactive display on the arena's main concourse, an advertising presence on signage at all Barclays Center events, as well as exposure on radio during Brooklyn Nets games and in-arena signage during Nets games at Barclays Center.

Gina Jorge, assistant manager of multicultural marketing at American Honda, tells Marketing Daily that the opportunity was brought to Honda by Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which manages the Barclays Center and Brooklyn Nets. "The New York metro is a top market for Honda, and Brooklyn specifically is a vibrant and multicultural city."   

"The Barclays Center is an innovative and state-of-the-art facility that aligns very well with the Honda brand," she says, adding that Honda will use the partnership to showcase its new Honda Accord at the Barclays Center's grand opening. The company is also working with the regional dealer group on retail programs around the partnership, per Jorge.

While this is a first for Honda on the East Coast, the company has had naming rights at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. since 2006, and Honda is the official vehicle of the National Hockey League in the U.S., and of the IZOD/IndyCar series.