Nestlé and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have entered into 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 represents Nestlé’s largest international brand collaboration to date.
The partnership is aimed at strengthening fan engagement, promoting youth participation in basketball and creating more opportunities for young people and families to embrace active lifestyles through sport.
In Nigeria, the agreement builds on Milo’s more than two decades of investment in youth basketball through the Milo Basketball Championship, one of the country’s longstanding grassroots basketball development programmes.
Nestlé said the partnership would enable the company to connect its established commitment to basketball in Nigeria with the NBA’s global platform while expanding opportunities for young people to participate in the sport.
The collaboration 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.
It will also extend to selected NBA events and fan engagement platforms, including NBA Global Games and NBA House, giving consumers opportunities to connect with the sport through experiences across participating markets.
Commenting on the partnership, Nestlé’s Senior Vice President and Head of Confectionery & Snacking Strategic Business Unit, Liberato Milo, said the company had long recognised the ability of sport to inspire confidence, healthy habits and personal development.
“Together with the NBA, we will use the power of basketball to connect with consumers at scale, create locally relevant experiences and inspire more young people and families to get active and enjoy the game,” he said.
The partnership will also include retail programmes and in-market fan experiences, with on-pack promotions featuring NBA branding and opportunities for consumers to win NBA tickets, merchandise and other prizes.
Nestlé Nigeria Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Wassim Elhusseini, said basketball had become an important part of the Milo story in Nigeria by creating opportunities for young people to develop discipline, resilience, teamwork and self-belief.
According to him, the partnership would build on Milo’s longstanding commitment to basketball while connecting its Nigerian heritage in youth sports development to a global basketball platform.
The Milo Basketball Championship, now in its 26th edition, reached more than 13,000 schools across Nigeria in 2026, providing young people with opportunities to participate in competitive basketball while developing life skills through sport.
Also speaking, NBA Senior Vice President, Commercial Development and Media, Julie Morris, said the league looked forward to using Nestlé’s global reach and local market presence to deepen engagement with basketball fans and support the continued growth of the sport worldwide.
The partnership will cover Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam and Nigeria, while the Philippines will join the programme from October 2027.