Spalding Celebrates 30th Anniversary as the Official Game Ball of the NBA

BOWLING GREEN, Ky., Oct. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Throughout the 2013-14 NBA season, Spalding, a division of Russell Brands, LLC, and the world's largest basketball equipment supplier, will celebrate 30 years as the Official Game Ball of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Today, Spalding launched the "Only1Ball" campaign to celebrate its relationship with the league which includes more than 38,500 games and nearly 7 million points scored.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131028/NY04821LOGO)

"Spalding has been a part of so many great NBA moments over the last 30 years," said Sal LaRocca, NBA Executive Vice President of Global Merchandising. "The NBA is proud to celebrate this anniversary with Spalding and reflect on 30 years of outstanding basketball."

Spalding became the official basketball of the NBA during the 1983-84 NBA season, the same year that David Stern became commissioner. Since that time, Spalding has been a part of the NBA's tremendous growth to 30 franchises, programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents.

"The NBA relationship is such an important part of Spalding's legacy," said Paul Sullivan, Senior Vice President for Spalding. "We are thrilled to celebrate 30 years of growth together and announce the 'Only1Ball' campaign for the upcoming season."

The "Only1Ball" Anniversary Celebration will include:

• A vignette series to honor the incredible moments and iconic images in the NBA over the past 30 years. The series was created in conjunction with NBA Entertainment and will debut around NBA All-Star 2014, with subsequent episodes airing throughout the season

• Anniversary advertising featuring Spalding brand ambassador and NBA champion, Paul Pierce of the Brooklyn Nets

• #Only1Ball Sweepstakes in which one lucky fan will have the opportunity to win a trip to the 2014 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. Fans can enter the promotion by visiting www.spalding.com/Only1Ball or Spalding's Facebook page

• 30^th Anniversary Spalding logo on courts and specialized basketball packaging

For more information on Spalding's 30^th Anniversary as the Official Game Ball of the NBA, visit www.spalding.com/Only1Ball.

About Spalding
A Division of Russell Brands, LLC, Spalding is the largest basketball equipment supplier in the world, and America's first baseball company. Spalding is the official basketball of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the official backboard of the NBA and NCAA, the official baseball of the Little League World Series and the official volleyball of the King of the Beach Volleyball Tour. In addition to being the leading producer and marketer of basketballs, footballs, volleyballs and soccer balls, Spalding produces softballs under the Dudley brand. The SPALDING® and DUDLEY® trademarks are owned by Russell Brands, LLC. For more information, visit www.spalding.com.

About the NBA
The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women's National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League. The league has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents. NBA rosters currently feature 85 international players from 36 countries and territories. NBA Digital's assets include NBA TV, which is available in more than 61 million U.S. homes, and NBA.com, which averages more than 42 million page views per day, more than half of which originate from outside of North America. The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with more than 455 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league and its teams and players have donated more than $225 million to charity, completed more than 2.6 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 830 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.

SOURCE Spalding