Golden State Warriors have signed a landmark multi-year jersey patch agreement with Australian AI cloud provider Iren, in what is reported to be the richest sponsorship deal in North American team sports history.
Record sponsorship worth over $50 million annually
According to Sportico, the agreement is valued at more than $50 million per year, surpassing every previous jersey patch partnership in North American professional sports.
Beginning next season, Iren’s logo will replace Rakuten on the Warriors’ jerseys. The partnership extends beyond the NBA franchise to include the Golden State Valkyries and the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Iren branding will also feature throughout Chase Center and across the organization’s commercial assets.
Ai moves from the cloud to the court
Founded in 2018, Iren initially operated as a Bitcoin mining company before pivoting toward AI data center infrastructure.
The company has rapidly expanded through major partnerships, including a five-year AI cloud services agreement with Microsoft worth $9.7 billion and a collaboration with Nvidia focused on accelerating large-scale AI infrastructure deployment.
With a market value of approximately $18 billion, Iren has emerged as one of the fastest-growing companies benefiting from the global AI boom.
Partnership goes beyond branding
The collaboration also includes a community investment strategy across the Bay Area.
The Warriors and Iren plan to launch educational initiatives promoting AI and STEAM literacy, refurbish community basketball courts, and distribute 10,000 Warriors jerseys each year to young people in underserved communities.
Warriors continue to redefine sports business
The deal further strengthens the Warriors’ position as one of the world’s most commercially successful sports organizations.
Valued at more than $11 billion, the franchise generates the highest sponsorship revenue in the NBA and continues to set commercial benchmarks across North American sport.
The agreement also reinforces a growing trend in global sports sponsorship, where AI companies are becoming major commercial partners as they seek greater visibility through elite sports properties.
Conclusion
The Warriors’ partnership with Iren demonstrates how artificial intelligence has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in sports sponsorship. As AI companies compete for global recognition, premium sports assets are increasingly becoming the preferred platform for building brand awareness, making technology firms some of the biggest commercial investors in modern sport.