Nestlé and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have announced a new multi-year international marketing partnership that will make Milo, Nescau and Nesquik Official Partners of the NBA.
The agreement, which takes effect on January 1, 2027, covers 21 markets across four continents, including Nigeria, and aims to engage basketball fans while encouraging more young people to participate in the sport.
The partnership represents Nestlé’s largest international brand collaboration to date and will feature activations across selected NBA youth basketball development programmes and platforms, including Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA, NBA Basketball School, Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Coaches Academies, Her Time To Play and NBA 3X.
The collaboration will also extend to selected NBA events and fan engagement platforms, including NBA Global Games and NBA House.
In Nigeria, the partnership builds on Milo’s more than two-decade commitment to youth basketball development through the Milo Basketball Championship.
According to Nestlé, the collaboration will create more opportunities for young people and families to engage with basketball while promoting participation in sport and active lifestyles.
“For decades, our brands have believed in the power of sport to bring out the best in people,” said Liberato Milo, SVP, Head of Confectionery & Snacking Strategic Business Unit at Nestlé.
He said the partnership would enable Nestlé to use basketball to connect with consumers at scale, create locally relevant experiences and encourage more young people and families to become active.
The partnership will also include retail programmes and in-market fan experiences, including on-pack promotions featuring NBA branding and opportunities for consumers to win NBA tickets, merchandise and other prizes.
Speaking on the partnership, Wassim Elhusseini, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé Nigeria, said basketball had become an important part of the Milo story in Nigeria.
“Basketball has become an important part of the Milo story in Nigeria, creating opportunities for young people to participate in sport while developing values such as discipline, resilience, teamwork and self-belief.”
Elhusseini said the partnership would connect Nestlé’s longstanding commitment to basketball in Nigeria with a global platform, creating opportunities to deepen engagement with the sport and inspire more young people to discover their potential.
The Milo Basketball Championship, now in its 26th edition, reached more than 13,000 schools across Nigeria in 2026, giving young people opportunities to participate in competitive basketball while developing life skills through sport.
Also speaking, Julie Morris, NBA Senior Vice President of Commercial Development and Media, described Nestlé as one of the world’s most recognisable brands with a longstanding relationship with consumers globally.
She said the NBA looks forward to leveraging Nestlé’s reach and local market presence to connect with fans in new ways and support the continued growth of basketball worldwide.
The partnership will also be activated in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam, with the Philippines joining from October 2027.
