NEW YORK, July 31 -- The Gatorade Company and the NBA have agreed to a new multiyear marketing partnership dedicated to growing the sport of basketball. The partnership includes designation as the "Official Sports Drink" of the NBA, WNBA and NBDL, courtside presence, player endorsement deals and team partnerships, as well as an expanded commitment across grassroots programs and media.

Gatorade, which has been a partner since 1984, will continue to hydrate the best basketball players in the world via team partnerships throughout all three leagues and will develop a hydration education program. The comprehensive new effort by Gatorade and the three leagues will be supported by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) and designed to educate basketball participants and fans on the link between hydration and performance based on continued research by GSSI.

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Gatorade Thirst Quencher will continue to use NBA and WNBA players as endorsers by incorporating players into its advertising and promotional initiatives. Gatorade currently has endorsement deals with Michael Jordan of the Washington Wizards, Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors and Chamique Holdsclaw of the Washington Mystics.

"Whether it is in-arena, on basketball courts around the country, or through the league's extensive media properties, Gatorade will utilize the NBA's unparalleled ability to connect to basketball players and fans," said Tom Fox, Gatorade Vice President of Sports and Event Marketing. "As basketball participation continues to grow, we are constantly striving to be at key 'points of sweat' for the tens of millions of basketball players in this country."

"Gatorade is uniquely linked with basketball participation and we are proud that they have furthered their involvement to leverage that relationship with such a wide-reaching partnership," said Heidi Ueberroth, NBA Entertainment Executive Vice President. "The NBA and Gatorade will continue to work closely in the pursuit of our common goal of growing the sport particularly on a grassroots level."

The NBA, WNBA, NBDL and Gatorade will team up on numerous grassroots events and activities including:

Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA: Gatorade will continue its affiliation with the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA presented by Gatorade and Nike, a youth basketball support program designed to provide information about proper basketball techniques, nutrition and health, coaching methods, parental advice, sportsmanship and much more. In its first year, the program reached more than 700,000 boys, girls, parents and coaches.

NBA Hoop-It-Up: Gatorade will also continue to partner with the league's official traveling 3-on-3-basketball tournament for players of all ages and skill levels that travels to 48 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. NBA Hoop-It-Up is currently in its 14th year.

NBA All-Star Jam Session: Gatorade will have a major presence at NBA All-Star Jam Session with The Gatorade Jam Session Invitational Tournament. This past season's competition, which took place in Philadelphia in February, consisted of two eight-team tournaments featuring the top boys and girls middle school teams from the area.

As part of their commitment to NBA media, Gatorade will participate with the NBA in its U.S. Hispanic Marketing initiative to include presence on NBA.com en Espanol (www.nba.com/espanol/), commercials during Spanish-language NBA broadcasts in the U.S. and involvement in Hispanic-focused NBA promotions. Gatorade will also continue to sponsor the popular Virtual GM presented by Gatorade -- a fantasy basketball game on the NBA.com home page.