Lakers and Red Hot Chili Peppers Team for Co-Branded T-shirt Giveaway

By Brendan Menapace

The bond between the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Los Angeles Lakers is strong. Over its history, the band has written lyrics like "My Lakers, I adore them" and titled a song about the 1988-89 Lakers "Magic Johnson." They've performed the National Anthem before games, and bassist Flea is frequently spotted courtside in purple and gold.

So, it's about time the Lake Show repaid the band for their loyalty, eh?

Before the end of the regular season, the Lakers created special co-branded T-shirts that celebrated the Chili Peppers' new album, "Unlimited Love," depicting the band as Lakers players, and handed them out to fans at the arena.

Unlimited Love for today's giveaway 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/4zIVDql7oC

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 3, 2022

Flea even played the national anthem again, this time with a special Lakers-branded bass guitar.

.@flea333 of the @ChiliPeppers put on a show for the National Anthem 🤘 pic.twitter.com/o0wfYjLU0m

— ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) April 3, 2022

The Chili Peppers are known for referencing LA and California just about every chance they get, but they're not the only band with strong local ties. Those ties and sense of identity create branding opportunities for other local businesses or sports teams.

This kind of thing is pretty prevalent in soccer right now.

Ed Sheeran took out ad space on the front of his local Ipswich Town FC's jerseys. The band Fontaines D.C. sponsored Bohemians for special edition jerseys to raise money for nonprofits. Barcelona's deal with Spotify means that artists like Shakira (whose husband is Barca center-back Gerard Piqué) will adorn the front of the shirt at times.

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— Chris Good (@Goodycjg20Chris) April 30, 2022

Local celebrities frequently show up at their team's games, often to much fanfare. It makes sense to borrow their image to create a co-branded promotion that appeals to fans of both. Heck, even RHCP fans in LA who aren't the biggest Lakers fans might still want a special T-shirt, so guess who's buying tickets to the game? Or maybe a sports fan might not know about a local band until they get a giveaway, and then they decide to check them out after the game.

A sports team's brand goes far beyond just the players on the court or field, and the Lakers showed how to use that for a fun collaboration.