The Golden State Warriors National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise has renewed its long-running partnership with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, but dropped the jersey-patch component of the agreement.
Rakuten had been the team’s official jersey patch sponsor since the 2017-18 season, but will now continue as an official partner and the presenting sponsor of the team’s community-focused women’s empowerment efforts in March (Women’s History Month in the US).
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The partnership will still see Rakuten customers receive 10% cashback on purchases in the Warriors’ online store, and the pair will continue to collaborate on the distribution of merchandise, experiences, and more.
As with previous agreements, this deal will also continue to cover the Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA franchise that shares an owner with the Warriors, and the Warriors’ NBA G-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Rakuten also remains the presenting partner of the tunnel walk feature, known as Rakuten Arrivals, in venue at the Warriors and Valkyries’ 18,064-capacity Chase Center home (where the brand will also receive prominent cross-venue signage).
Speaking on the announcement, Rakuten Rewards and Rakuten International chief executive Amit Patel said: “The best partnerships evolve with purpose.
“Nine years ago, our partnership with the Golden State Warriors was built on shared values of empowering our communities and the drive to innovate–it's a legacy that we're deeply proud of.
“In this next chapter, we're building on that foundation to deepen our connection with fans and the local community. We want to celebrate the people who show up, who are loyal, and who live and breathe this team with access to rewarding experiences you simply can't get anywhere else."
Over the course of the pair’s patch partnership, the Warriors have remained one of the NBA’s most prominent franchises, reaching the NBA finals three times, winning the NBA Championship twice, and qualifying for the playoffs on all but four occasions (the team made the play-in round three times in that span but failed to advance in all three).
Indeed, since jersey patch partnerships were approved for NBA teams in 2017, Rakuten is the only brand to have been to the NBA final three times.
Overall, four NBA Championships since 2015 and the emergence of stars Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and more have made the Warriors the league’s most valuable franchise.
Since that last championship triumph in 2022, however, the team’s on-field powers have waned, with the stars that carried them through a dynastic period in the 2010s ageing, declining, or being traded away.
The partnership is one of the most lucrative in the entire NBA regardless of on-field performance.
With that in mind, perhaps Rakuten sought to downsize its coverage of the team, or the Warriors sought too high a fee for renewal, given the relative lack of championship prospects over the coming seasons.
Rakuten says that it is transitioning away from jersey placement in order to “deepen its focus on fan engagement and community impact.”
Either way, it leaves the Warriors in position to find a new patch partner for the first time in close to a decade.
Despite the change, Rakuten, a partner since 2017, remains the longest-tenured partner in the history of the Golden State Valkyries franchise, which debuted in 2025.
Read more: In the boardroom with the Golden State Valkyries.
