Teen basketball league Overtime Elite and Paramount Global have signed a sponsorship deal that will see them collaborate on co-branded SpongeBob SquarePants merch.  

The companies plan to release a range of teen apparel (hoodies, shirts, shorts and pajamas) on Overtime’s online store in late April. And the league’s athletes and influencers will be wearing the merch in the meantime, with New York City-based team JellyFam kicking things off in February, when its players showed up to the OTE Playoffs in co-branded uniforms (pictured). 

SpongeBob has also taken over the Overtime Elite arena in Atlanta, Georgia, with branded content running on its LED screens, SpongeBob and Patrick on court as mascots, and big-time social media promotion. The league’s games are streamed on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube. 

A three-year-old league for 16- to 20-year-olds, Overtime Elite is owned by New York-based sports company Overtime, which also operates similar football and boxing brands and collectively has more than 100 million fans and followers. Its business model revolves around sponsorships, brand partnerships, e-commerce, licensing and media rights, with backing from Blackstone, Liberty Media Corporation and more than 6% of currently active NBA players, including Phoenix Suns’ power forward Kevin Durant. 

Overtime Elite did a similar deal with McDonald’s last month that saw a few of its players wearing co-branded uniforms at the 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game. And the company partnered with the NFL last November to have Overtime influencers produce and share content from NFL events on the league’s social channels as part of a broader effort to reach new and younger demos. 

Steven Heller (steven@thebrandliaison.com) and Laurie Smith (laurie@thebrandliaison.com) from New York’s The Brand Liaison (Robocar POLI, Exersaucer) are handling Overtime’s licensing business.