Friday, Nike officially unveiled this season's 'Statement' jerseys for all 30 teams at a launch event in Los Angeles. Entering the first year of their 8-year apparel deal with the NBA, Nike came out swinging with their first release, introducing all new jersey designs for the majority of the league's teams, including some fairly bold alterations to some of the top-selling jerseys in the league.
But while the majority of the changes to the NBA's jerseys are cosmetic, there is one major feature that Nike believes will change the way that fans interact with their jerseys: Nike Connect.
So what is Nike connect? As you saw in the trailer, each jersey will feature NFC tags that will allow fans to scan them using the NBA Connect app to gain access to exclusive pre-game content, Spotify playlists curated by NBA stars and special deals on apparel, footwear, tickets and video game content, including player boosts in NBA 2K18. On top of all that, the app will also allow fans to receive direct messages from NBA players looking to thank them for purchasing their jersey.
That's right, owning a player's specific jersey will give you an added boost on the digital courts. So far full details on what kind of boosts Nike Connect will offer to fans has been kept to a minimum, but with the September 29th release date just around the corner, you can expect to hear more about the partnership in the near future.
