New Sponsorship for the Nets

The New Jersey Nets have come to a sponsorship agreement with Aeroflot, Russia’s leading air carrier, according to Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov.

The deal between the Nets and Aeroflot was announced on Wednesday and came just three weeks after the Nets and vodka company Stolichnaya agreed to a five year partnership with the Barclays Center. The Nets are scheduled to move in to the Barclays Center in 2012. The sponsorship agreement between the Nets and Aeroflot will occur for the next two years while the team remains in Newark’s Prudential Center.

This agreement with the Nets is Aeroflot’s first with an American professional sports team. The company, a Moscow-based airline, will have courtside signage during Nets home games broadcast in Russia visible to television cameras, and on-screen branding during select broadcasts of away Nets games.

“We’re proud to announce that one of Russia’s blue chip companies and best brands is becoming a Nets corporate sponsor, and we’re looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Aeroflot,” said Prokhorov.

Brett Yormark, Nets chief executive, hopes that the agreement between the Nets and Aeroflot will continue after the team moves to its new home in Brooklyn.

“They are an airline going through the same things we are, in terms of a lot of positive change, a new fleet and more direct flights from JFK to Russia,” said Yormark. “This is an opportunity to build their brand here but also to reinforce it in Russia.”

Yormark met with representatives from over 30 different companies during a trip to Russia last month. As a result of these meetings, he expects more sponsorship deals will be announced in the future.

“(Prokhorov) is the connector to the marketplace,” said Yormark. “The NBA opened an office in Russia in August and it’s a market that we’ll be working and looking to develop. But I think without Prokhorov, these deals don’t exist.”

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