Hennessy will be the NBA global partner

Hennessy, the LVMH group brand that produces the world's best-selling cognac, joins the NBA's long list of partners as "the league's official spirit". The renewal of the partnership begun last year still brings the world's most important luxury group and the most advanced sports league into contact. The real novelty compared to the agreements signed in February 2020 lies in the "worldwide" nature of the renewal: not only the focus on the North American market but interests that extend to Africa, Europe, South America and Asia, where the NBA is trying to expand in an increasingly strategic way.

Hennessy is historically linked to the African American communities, the same that the NBA has been helping with so many investments in the last year. The link between Hennessy and the collective imagination of black culture is also due to the many citations in the hip-hop lyrics of rappers of different generations: from 2Pac (who recorded "Hennessy" in 1992) to Notorius BIG, from Kanye West to Rick Ross, up to Nas, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. With a production of around 50 million bottles a year, Hennessy is the best-selling cognac worldwide and likewise the NBA, visible in more than 200 countries, is the league with the most visibility. The launch of the partnership coincides with the "Hennessy x NBA: Lines" campaign which uses the lines of the parquet to ideally unite the whole world.

The collaboration translates, in practical terms, into the creation of new exclusive Hennessy VS and VSOP Limited Edition bottles, created ad hoc to celebrate the partnership. For now, the product is only available in the United States, but starting from the second half of 2021 it will also be available in Italy. French art de vivre and American basketball: two worlds that come together in the sign of luxury. This is not the first time that the NBA has bonded with an LVMH group brand. It had already happened last season, when Adam Silver signed the collaboration with Louis Vuitton for an exclusive capsule presented at Madison Square Garden.

The trend of the drink business that has been exploding in recent weeks - from the Moët & Chadon x AMBUSH collaboration to LVMH's 50% acquisition of Armand de Brignac, Jay-Z's champagne - is increasingly tangible and concrete , as evidenced by the alcohol brands that many public and sports personalities have launched: 818 Tequila by Kyle Jenner, Lobos by LeBron James and Cincoro Tequila by Michael Jordan.