The National Basketball Association (NBA) and digital sports platform, Fanatics, have announced a multi-year collaboration to open the league’s first brick-and-mortar stores in Australia.

The deal sees the first store open at the Emporium in Melbourne, where Denver Nuggets guard, Jamal Murray, will make an appearance to interact fans, and a Sydney store set to open soon, with both stores being run by Lids, who also run several other NBA flagship stores.

Both stores will feature a wide range of NBA and WNBA merchandise, including hyperlocal NBA products, apparel, jerseys, headwear, sporting goods and collectibles from major brands such as Nike, Mitchell & Ness, New Era and Wilson, with advanced on-site customization services also being available.

Additionally, there will be several interactive experiences, including NBA 2K booths, athlete height matchups, and more.

Commenting on the partnership, Lids president, Brittan Maughan, said: “Lids is thrilled to collaborate with the NBA to bring its first NBA flagship stores to Australia.”

“Australia is one of the strongest international markets for the NBA and has a pedigree of producing great players.

“Both stores will offer the widest variety of NBA products for fans, who will also be able to individualize their products through custom embroidery on their purchases,” Maughan said.

NBA Asian vice president of global merchandising, Lesley Rulloda, added: “The first brick-and-mortar NBA Stores in Australia reflect our continued commitment to engaging fans in Australia, who are among the most passionate in the world.”

“We recognize the appetite for all things NBA in Australia, and our collaboration with Fanatics and Lids will help us meet the growing demand for NBA and WNBA team-branded products by offering expansive physical retail spaces for fans to come together and celebrate their shared love of the game,” Rulloda said.

The announcement comes after the NBA and NBAPA partnered with Niantic to create an augmented reality app, NBA All-World.

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