Atlanta Hawks and Delta Air Lines Enter High-Flying Hometown Partnership

March 29,2017

Hawks and Delta create first-of-its-kind original content from airline’s chartered team flights

ATLANTA -- Two Atlanta institutions, the Hawks and Delta Air Lines, today announced a partnership that names Delta the “Official Airline of the Atlanta Hawks.” The arrangement includes entitlement of the high-flying Delta Sky Squad, a first-of-its-kind digital content series, in-arena branding, and sponsorship of Hawks President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach Mike Budenholzer’s weekly radio show. 

The two companies will collaborate to create an original digital content series to be distributed on the Hawks’ award-winning social media and digital channels. The series, titled “Hawks Hang Time,” will feature two teammates conducting interviews with each other from the airport’s tarmac before and after the club boards its chartered Delta jet during road trips. The first episode, featuring four-time NBA All-Star Paul Millsap and guard/forward Kent Bazemore, can be seen on the team’s website by clicking here.

“We are proud to partner with Delta Air Lines, an Atlanta company that sets industry standards across the globe,” said Hawks EVP and Chief Revenue Officer Andrew Saltzman. “For years, our mantra has been ‘True to Atlanta,’ and this partnership will undoubtedly strengthen our ties to this great city and beyond.”

“The Atlanta Hawks are the type of hometown organization Delta enjoys partnering with,” said Bill Betz, Delta General Manager of Brand Marketing. “We are a proud and long-time supporter of the Hawks, and we look forward to growing with them, on the court, in the air and in our collective community.”

As a result of the agreement, the Delta Sky Squad, the acrobatic performance team which provides in-game entertainment at approximately 25 Hawks home contests per season, will wear Delta-branded uniforms while utilizing equipment featuring the airline’s logos. The group will also assist with community engagement efforts for the Hawks and Delta, as the squad will make several appearances at local events during each season of the partnership.

Additionally, Delta Air Lines will be named the presenting sponsor of “On the Court with Coach Bud,” the weekly radio segment featuring Coach Budenholzer on CBS Radio’s SportsRadio 92-9 The Game in Atlanta. The segment airs each Thursday at 10:20 a.m. on Atlanta’s top-rated sports radio station.

#TrueToAtlanta

About the Atlanta Hawks

With a bold identity and strong new ownership, the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club and Philips Arena remain committed to making Atlantans proud on the court and off. The 2014-15 Southeast Division Champions, the Hawks have made the postseason in nine consecutive seasons and reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history in 2015. Off the court, the organization has built a culture of inclusion, diversity and innovation, all with a touch of Southern Hospitality. It continues into the community where the organization builds bridges through basketball, whether by constructing and refurbishing courts in Atlanta neighborhoods, providing scholarships to our basketball camps, or surprising and delighting our fans with unique Atlanta Hawks experiences. Atlanta Hawks Membership, which includes your seat for every home game for the 2017-18 regular season, is on sale now at www.hawks.com/membership or by calling 866-715-1500! For more information on the Hawks, log on to www.hawks.com today or follow us on twitter @ATLHawks.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines serves more than 180 million customers each year. In 2017, Delta was named to Fortune’s top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the sixth time in seven years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for an unprecedented six consecutive years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 323 destinations in 57 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry’s leading transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products and services, and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on the Delta News Hub, as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta, and Facebook.com/delta.