Article 28 MEDIA RIGHTS

28.1 League Rights.

The Players Association agrees that the NBA, all League-related entities (including, but not limited to, NBA Properties, Inc. and NBA Media Ventures, LLC) that generate BRI, and NBA Teams have the right during and after the term of this Agreement to use, exhibit, distribute, or license any performance by the players, under this Agreement or the Uniform Player Contract, in any or all media, formats or forms of exhibition and distribution, whether analog, digital, or other, now known or hereafter developed, including, but not limited to, print, tape, disc, computer file, radio, television, motion pictures, other audio-visual and audio works, Internet, broadband platforms, mobile platforms, applications, and other distributions platforms (collectively, “Media”).

28.2 No Suit.

The Players Association, for itself and present and future NBA players, covenants not to sue (or finance any suit against) the NBA, all League related entities (including NBA Properties, Inc. and NBA Media Ventures, LLC) that generate BRI, and all NBA Teams, or, any of their respective past, present, and future owners (direct and indirect) acting in their capacity as owners of any of the foregoing entities, officers, directors, trustees, employees, agents, attorneys, licensees, successors, heirs, administrators, executors, and assigns, with respect to the use, exhibition, distribution, or license, in any or all Media, of any performances by any player rendered under this Agreement or prior collective bargaining agreements, or under Player Contracts made pursuant thereto; provided, however, that this Section 2 shall not apply to any Endorsement, as defined in Section 3 below, any Unauthorized Sponsor Promotion, as defined in Paragraph 14(e) of the Uniform Player Contract, or any action of the Players Association pursuant to Section 3 (f) below.

28.3 Unauthorized Endorsement/Sponsor Promotion.

1. Section 1 above does not confer any right or authority for the NBA, any League related entity or any NBA Team to (i) use, or authorize any third party to use, any performance by a player in any way that constitutes an unauthorized endorsement by such player of a third party brand, product or service (“Endorsement”), or (ii) authorize any third party to use any performance by a player in any way that constitutes an Unauthorized Sponsor Promotion as defined in Paragraph 14(e) of the Uniform Player Contract.
2. For purposes of clarity, and without limitation: (i) it shall not be an Endorsement for the NBA, a League-related entity, or an NBA Team to use, or authorize others to use, including, without limitation, in third party advertising and promotional materials, footage and photographs of a player’s participation in NBA games or other NBA events that do not unduly focus on, feature, or highlight, such player in a manner that leads the reasonable consumer to believe that such player is a spokesman for, or promoter of, a third-party commercial product or service; provided that the preceding sentence is independent of and is not relevant to determining whether a use is or is not an Unauthorized Sponsor Promotion; and (ii) any use of a player’s Player Attributes that has been expressly authorized by the player (not including the Uniform Player Contract) shall not be an unauthorized Endorsement or an Unauthorized Sponsor Promotion.
3. Any dispute regarding whether a use of any performance by a player is or is not an Unauthorized Sponsor Promotion shall be determined by the expedited System Arbitration process described in Paragraph 14(f) of the Uniform Player Contract.
4. For purposes of clarity, nothing in this Agreement or the Uniform Player Contract shall limit the rights of the NBA, all League-related entities that generate BRI, and NBA Teams to provide, and authorize others to provide, advertising and promotional opportunities within NBA games or NBA or Team events and NBA-related or Team- related content; it being understood that nothing in this sentence is intended to authorize the NBA, any League-related entity or any NBA Team to use, or authorize any third party to use, any Player Attributes in any way (w) that constitutes an unauthorized Endorsement, (x) in the creative elements incorporated into such advertising executions that constitute an Unauthorized Sponsor Promotion, or (y) in the creative elements in promotional opportunities that are not Promotional Enhancements that are Unauthorized Sponsor Promotion. For purposes of the foregoing, examples of “advertising” include 30-second commercials, video pre-rolls and courtside signage.
5. Nothing in Section 3(d)(x) or (y) above shall limit the right of a telecaster or distributor of NBA games, NBA or Team events, or NBA-related or Team-related content to use, or authorize others to use, third party Promotional Enhancements in telecasts or other distribution of such games, events, or content in accordance with this Section 3(e). For purposes of this Section 3(e), “Promotional Enhancements” means: (i) virtual images, graphics, and/or text that are superimposed on the video and/or audio depiction of the NBA game, NBA or Team event, or NBA-related or Team-related content; (ii) non-virtual signage or other physical displays otherwise visible in the telecast or other distribution of the NBA game, NBA or Team event, or NBA-related or Team-related content (for purposes of clarity, clauses (i) and (ii) above do not include still images except in game and program telecasts); and (iii) other promotional opportunities for Telecasters (as defined in Paragraph 14(f) of the Uniform Player Contract) consistent with past practice as permitted under the 2017 CBA. Examples of Promotional Enhancements include branded backboard slide-outs, branded feature trackers, sponsored starting lineups, branded virtual lineups, virtual courtside signage, virtual court signage, branded statistical presentations, studio show backdrops, branded halftime desk signage, a sponsored “Top Plays” feature, and a sponsored “audio drop-in” mention. Creative elements incorporated into virtual signage Promotional Enhancements are not authorized under this Section if they otherwise are Unauthorized Sponsor Promotion.
6. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in addition to any other rights the Players Association may have, (A) if a telecaster or other distributor of NBA games, NBA or Team events, or NBA-related or Team-related content uses, or authorizes others to use, Player Attributes in creative elements within promotional opportunities in telecasts or other distribution of such games, events or content (i) in a manner that (x) is not covered by Section 3(e)(iii) above, and (y) unduly promotes the products or services of a sponsor, and (ii) the promotion of the sponsor’s products or services within such promotional opportunity is more prominent than the NBA content, to which it relates, taken as a whole, then the Players Association shall notify the NBA in writing, and (B) the NBA shall have a period of fifteen (15) days to cause the telecaster or distributor to cease or modify such creative elements (“Cure”). If the NBA fails to Cure pursuant to the preceding sentence, then the Players Association may sue the NBA for any resulting damages to the Players Association’s commercial group licensing business, with the NBA responsible for the violation and such damages even if the NBA did not authorize such promotional opportunity.
7. For purposes of clarity, nothing contained in this Article XXVIII or in Paragraph 14 of the Uniform Player Contract shall prohibit the inclusion of a sponsor’s name and/or logo on a jersey patch, and any depiction of a player wearing a jersey that includes such a jersey patch shall not, by reason of the jersey patch alone, constitute an unauthorized Endorsement, an Unauthorized Sponsor Promotion, or a violation of Section 3(f) above.

28.4 Reservation of Rights.

The Players Association expressly reserves its rights to bargain collectively on the subject described in Section 1 above at the expiration of this Agreement. Such reservation shall not, however, preclude the NBA from contending that the subject described in Section 1 above is not a mandatory subject of collective bargaining. The right of the NBA, League related entities, and NBA Teams described in Section 1 above is in addition to, and shall not limit nor be deemed to limit, derogate from or otherwise prejudice, any and all rights that any one or all of them have heretofore possessed or enjoyed, do now possess or enjoy or may hereafter possess or enjoy.