The Phoenix Suns were awarded the NBA’s Changemaker of the Year Award yesterday when the league revealed the NBA Team Partnership Awards and the NBA Ticket Sales & Service Awards for the 2018-19 season during its Revenue & Analytics Workshop in Las Vegas. The awards recognized outstanding achievement in team marketing and business operations for all 30 teams, with the winners chosen by both NBA league executives and a Finalists Committee comprised of team representatives.
“We are part of the best, most popular and progressive sports league in the world and it’s an honor to be recognized amongst our peers for our approach to business operations,” said Phoenix Suns President and CEO Jason Rowley. “Thanks to the vision and guidance of our Chief Revenue Officer Dan Costello, we were able to secure a multilevel partnership that extended beyond the jersey patch and helped elevate the fan experience through technology. It took teamwork throughout the entire Suns organization to help bring our PayPal partnership to life in new and meaningful ways.”
The Suns received the NBA Changemaker of the Year Award for their approach to the jersey patch partnership with PayPal, the global technology platform and digital payments leader, built on elevating fan experiences through innovation. Together, the partnership sought new ways to innovate sports and entertainment commerce experiences and revolutionize how fans interact with their teams. The partnership brought the Suns into the financial technology space with PayPal being integrated into the customer journey from box office tickets, cashless garage entry, merchandise, SixthMan season ticket renewals, mobile entry, mobile wallet, express orders in-arena, concession fast lanes and 50/50 raffles. Additionally, PayPal transformed a suite at Talking Stick Resort Arena into an innovation center that showcased their industry-leading technology and served as a hub for business development. The B2B platform of the partnership generated new PayPal users, increased PayPal’s Total Payment Volume through their products and helped PayPal drive multiple products (banking, credit card & financing) to deepen connections with its customers.
In October of 2018, PayPal became the first-ever jersey patch partner of Arizona’s original professional sports franchise. As part of the first-of-its-kind global partnership, PayPal was also designated the Official Payment Partner of the Phoenix Suns, the Phoenix Mercury and Real Club Deportivo Mallorca.
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