New sponsor, new name: Introducing the Sky Sport Breakers

Sky Sport has taken over from SkyCity. Photo/Supplied.

Sky Sport has been announced as the new naming rights sponsor of the NZ Breakers basketball team.

The deal will see the official name of the team updated to the Sky Sport Breakers, featuring across all the team's branding.

The deal sees Sky Sport replace SkyCity as the main sponsor - a shift that has already been reflected across the team's social media channels.

Although no longer naming rights sponsors, it is believed SkyCity will remain part of the Breakers' sponsorship family.

This deal also coincides with an announcement Sky Sport has signed a substantial extension deal with the NBL to continue broadcasting all NBL matches from the 2019/20 season. From October, Sky Sport will broadcast 126 regular season NBL games plus the NBL finals.

"We're delighted to be deepening our support for basketball in New Zealand as it continues to grow in popularity and participation," said Sky chief executive Martin Stewart.

We are proud to announce that we are now the SKY Sport Breakers. Full story: https://t.co/5ZtLL6cGEr

A big thank you to SKYCITY for their support as we move into a new era. We won three championships together and we couldn't have done it without you!@skysportnz @SKYCITYGroup pic.twitter.com/pTYPeWYYSi

— BNZ Breakers (@NZBreakers) June 4, 2019

"Our partnership with the SKY Sport Breakers and broadcast extension with the NBL will further enhance our basketball offering and bring fans even closer to the action."

Sky Sport first broadcast the NBL competition in 2003, and has screened every Breakers match live, home and away, since the 2015/16 season, along with producing all of the home matches since 2010.

This is the first big marketing move Sky has made since its appointment of marketing heavy hitter Steve Bayliss in May.

Bayliss previously worked as the GM of marketing at Foodstuffs for seven years between 2011 and 2018. His career also includes an over six-year stint as the GM of marketing at Air New Zealand.

A major marketing challenge for Sky in the coming years will be to solidify its position as New Zealand's home of sport - something which has been challenged recently with the loss of broadcast rights for several sporting events, most notably this year's Rugby World Cup.