Nestlé and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have announced a new **multiyear international marketing partnership** that will make **Milo, Nescau and Nesquik official partners of the NBA** across 21 markets spanning four continents.
The partnership, which takes effect **January 1, 2027**, is designed to deepen fan engagement while creating more opportunities for young people and families to participate in basketball and embrace active lifestyles.
Nigeria is among the markets covered by the agreement, providing Nestlé with an opportunity to build on **Milo’s longstanding investment in youth basketball development in the country through the Milo Basketball Championship**.
Now in its **26th edition**, the Milo Basketball Championship reached more than **13,000 schools across Nigeria in 2026**, giving young people opportunities to compete while developing values such as teamwork, discipline, resilience and self-belief through sport.
The new NBA partnership will extend Nestlé’s basketball platform beyond the championship, with planned activations across selected NBA youth development programmes and platforms, including **Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA, NBA Basketball School, Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Coaches Academies, Her Time To Play and NBA 3X**.
The collaboration will also feature selected NBA events and fan-engagement platforms, including **NBA Global Games and NBA House**, alongside retail programmes and consumer promotions.
Under the agreement, consumers will also have opportunities to participate in **on-pack promotions featuring NBA branding**, with prizes including NBA tickets, merchandise and other experiences.
According to Nestlé, the partnership represents the company’s **largest international brand collaboration to date** and reflects its strategy of concentrating investment on fewer, larger global marketing platforms that can be activated consistently while maintaining local relevance.
Commenting on the partnership, **Liberato Milo, SVP and Head of Confectionery & Snacking Strategic Business Unit at Nestlé**, said the collaboration would use basketball to connect with consumers globally while creating locally relevant experiences.
For Nigeria, the partnership carries particular significance given Milo’s deep association with grassroots basketball.
**Wassim Elhusseini, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé Nigeria**, said the NBA collaboration would build on the brand’s longstanding contribution to basketball development in the country.
He said basketball had become an important part of the Milo story in Nigeria by creating opportunities for young people to participate in sport while developing important life values.
The partnership, he added, would connect Milo’s established Nigerian basketball platform with a global NBA ecosystem and create opportunities to engage more young people with the sport.
Also speaking, **Julie Morris, NBA Senior Vice President of Commercial Development and Media**, described Nestlé as one of the world’s most recognisable brands with a longstanding relationship with consumers globally.
She said the NBA looked forward to leveraging Nestlé’s reach and local-market presence to connect with fans in new ways and support the continued growth of basketball worldwide.
Beyond Nigeria, the partnership will be activated across **Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam**, while **the Philippines will join the partnership from October 2027**.
The agreement positions Milo’s established grassroots basketball presence in Nigeria within a broader international basketball platform, potentially giving the next generation of Nigerian players and fans greater exposure to the global game.
