Apple's Beats by Dre Brand Announces NBA Partnership

Wednesday September 5, 2018 9:48 am PDT by Juli Clover

Beats by Dr. Dre, Apple's well-known headphones brand, today announced a marketing and merchandising partnership with the NBA, which will make it the official headphone, wireless speaker, and audio partner of the NBA, and sister associations WNBA, NBA G League, and USA Basketball as of October 2018.

Under the terms of the partnership, which will span multiple years, Beats will establish separate deals with NBA teams to launch audio products for NBA fans, including NBA team-branded headphones.

Apple is aiming to boost Beats by Dre brand recognition through the NBA deal by leveraging NBA stars that include LeBron James, Draymond Green, James Harden, Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum and Karl-Anthony Towns.

beatsnbapartnership
Luke Woods, Beats by Dr. Dre president, said that the company's partnership with NBA is the "perfect alignment," an unsurprising statement given that Beats has long used major athletes to advertise its headphones, even prior to the purchase by Apple.

"The NBA and its players have long been significant drivers of global culture. Basketball, music, and style speak as one voice: Julius Erving became a style icon, Allen Iverson cemented hip hop's place on and off the court and LeBron James is breaking new music every day... the list goes on and on," said Luke Wood, President of Beats by Dr. Dre. "This partnership with the NBA is the perfect alignment for Beats. It feels like coming home."

In addition to developing NBA-themed headphones for fans, Beats also plans to provide headphones to players and advertise during major events like the NBA All-Star, NBA Draft, international games, WNBA games, and more.

The Beats NBA partnership will kick off in October, which is when the 2018-2019 NBA season will begin.

Tags: Beats, NBA

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Tuesday May 26, 2026 6:32 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...

• 48 comments

watchOS 27 Will Add These New Features to Your Apple Watch

Sunday May 24, 2026 11:53 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Apple will unveil watchOS 27 during its WWDC 2026 keynote on Monday, June 8, and a handful of new features have been rumored already. The first developer beta of watchOS 27 should be available immediately following the keynote, and a public beta typically follows in July. The update should be released to all users with a compatible Apple Watch model in September. Below, we recap watchOS...

• 59 comments

Apple Preparing 'Most Significant Overhaul in the iPhone's History'

Friday May 22, 2026 1:36 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol

Apple reportedly plans to unveil its first foldable iPhone in September this year — it may be named "iPhone Ultra" — and expectations are high. In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history." "iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said....

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety

101 months ago

I was never blown away by the Beats brand and their artificially heavy bass. Don't get me wrong: they're not as terrible as people make out. On the Internet everybody's an audiophile it seems.

But after the weights they put in the headphones to make them heavier and feel more substantial/expensive, whilst the components inside were crappy, that sealed the deal for me. They're not bad (e.g., if you get them free with a Mac purchase you're unlikely to be dissatisfied), but not worth anywhere near the price.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

blacktape242

101 months ago

global culture? basketball? wrong sport.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

AngerDanger

101 months ago

It has always been my dream to play basketball professionally. Initially, I worried that my lack of skill and even a single day of practice would pose somewhat of an obstacle, but now all I have to do to be like my heroes is buy a pair of headphones. Thanks Beats®©™! :)

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Blackstick

101 months ago

Meh. Bass heavy, overpriced status symbols... more interested in Apple’s own efforts without the Beats branding.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

iMi

101 months ago

Next year's Beats will be $100 more. Someone has to pay for the endorsements, people. The brand won't make itself an even more expensive and valuable thing all by itself.

All joking aside, I think many of you with comments suggesting beats are "crappy" should really consider taking a second look. The new Studio3 and BeatsX are both fantastic. I enjoy them a lot. Less bass, more clarity on both headsets. The Studio is the most improve from previous generation.

I tried compatible Bose headset and thought Beats were better. I tried the new Sony headset and while I liked that one better, the lack of W1 chip made it a second choice again. So, I don't think they are crapy. Plus, sound quality is super subjective.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)