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Charlotte Hornets partner with influencer for jersey patch

ByJames Mastrucci|
Oct 11, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; A view of the Charlotte Hornets logo at half court prior to the game against the Boston Celtics at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; A view of the Charlotte Hornets logo at half court prior to the game against the Boston Celtics at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The Charlotte Hornets will have a new jersey patch sponsor for the upcoming season. In a first-of-its-kind deal, the Hornets have agreed to a deal with influencer MrBeast. The patch will feature the logo for his food company Feastables. This will replace their former jersey patch, which displayed the logo for LendingTree.

The Feastables logo will also be featured on uniforms for the Greensboro Swarm,  the Hornets G League affiliate, in addition to the virtual uniforms of Hornets Venom GT of the NBA 2K League.

This agreement between the Hornets and Donaldson is the first major business deal for Charlotte’s new ownership group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall. Hornets Sports & Entertainment President Fred Whitfield had the following to say about the agreement.

"“We are excited to have this opportunity to introduce MrBeast’s fans to the Hornets and the Feastables brand to NBA fans around the world through our jersey patch. We are confident this innovative, new partnership will be significantly beneficial for everyone involved.”"

MrBeast would also post about the deal, expressing his excitement for the Hornets’ new jersey patch and logo on the court.

James Donaldson, aka MRBeast, grew up in Greenville, North Carolina, making this a very logical deal between the two parties. This is the first sponsorship deal for his Feastables brand, which he founded in January 2022. With this deal now in place, it now opens the door for similar deals to be made by influencer types and sports organizations.

Mostly known for his viral videos and charitable efforts, Donaldson received some backlash this past March. In a post that is still up, Donaldson asked his followers to straighten up displays for his Feastables brand while he was working on, in his words, “building a team to do this routinely”.  This was an incredibly bad look for Donaldson and his brand, as it appeared he was publicly begging for a free labor force while he was without a team in place to do so for an actual paid wage.

This led to one account trolling Donaldson, reusing the same pictures used in his initial post.

Donaldson has the most YouTube subscribers on his individual channel (187 million) and the second-most overall. A recipient of multiple awards, Donaldson was named the highest-paid creator on the platform by Forbes in 2022.

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