Key Takeaways
- The Home Depot becomes the Atlanta Hawks’ Official Home Improvement Partner in a multiyear deal spanning arena entitlements, digital content and community programming.
- Inventory runs deep: Fan Zone naming rights, the 200-Level Impact Board, courtside LED, the arena marquee and in-game shot-tracking integrations.
- A “Build the Noise” giveaway will put inflatable hammer sticks in fans’ hands at all 41 regular-season home games plus every home playoff game.
- The Community Court Tour will deliver summer basketball and fitness clinics for ages 6 to 16, paired with Home Depot’s Saturday Kids Workshop DIY builds.
The Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena have announced a multiyear Hawks Home Depot partnership that designates the Atlanta-based retailer as the team’s Official Home Improvement Partner. According to the team’s announcement, the agreement includes in-arena entitlements, fan activations, digital content and community programming across metro Atlanta, with youth programs built alongside Atlanta Public Schools. Financial terms were not disclosed.
For youth sports operators, the deal is a useful case study in how an NBA franchise packages community and youth programming as core sponsorship inventory rather than an afterthought.
Fan Zone Naming Rights, Stats Integrations and 41 Nights of Hammer Sticks
At the center of the partnership is the entitlement of the Atlanta Hawks Fan Zone, the arena’s interactive fan destination, along with Harry the Hawk’s Nest, Built by The Home Depot. Per the announcement, the retailer’s presence extends across the venue through static and digital signage, including the 200-Level Impact Board, courtside and concourse-level LED, the State Farm Arena digital marquee, and in-game shot-tracking and stats integrations.
The fan-facing centerpiece is “Build the Noise,” a seasonlong hammer stick giveaway distributed at all 41 regular-season home games and every Hawks playoff home game. The Home Depot will also serve as presenting partner of the Hawks Value Pack ticket offer.
On the content side, the retailer will present the Hawks’ “Built in the G” YouTube series and the team’s roster page on Hawks.com. The agreement extends to the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ NBA G League affiliate, through branding, community ticketing and talent appearances. That G League layer gives the brand a second, lower-cost touchpoint in metro Atlanta’s basketball ecosystem.
What Youth Programs Does the Deal Include?
The partnership’s community platform is built around career exposure and youth engagement, anchored by two programs.
The first, My Dreams Realized, is a student engagement program run jointly with Atlanta Public Schools, introducing students to careers in construction, design and the skilled trades. Per the announcement, it is anchored by a Future City Exposure Day and field-based learning experiences. For a retailer facing a long-running skilled trades labor pipeline challenge, a school-based program attached to an NBA team is workforce marketing as much as community relations.
The second, the Community Court Tour, will run summer basketball and fitness clinics for youth ages 6 to 16, paired with hands-on Saturday Kids Workshop DIY builds, the retailer’s existing youth platform. That pairing is the structural detail worth noting: the brand is not simply writing a check for clinics, it is folding its own retail program into the team’s youth footprint.
Beginning with the 2027-28 season, the Hawks will also make an annual donation to The Home Depot Foundation. The amount was not announced.
Hometown Brand, Hometown Team
Both organizations framed the deal around shared Atlanta roots. The Home Depot was founded in Atlanta in 1978 and is the world’s largest home improvement retailer.
“Bringing together two Atlanta institutions like the Hawks and The Home Depot allows us to continue driving meaningful impact across our city,” said Andrew Saltzman, president of business enterprise and chief commercial officer for the Hawks and State Farm Arena, adding that the partnership will deliver “immediate energy and long-term value to our community.”
“This partnership builds on our presence in live sports and gives us another meaningful way to show up for our customers around the moments that bring people together,” said Allison Kolber, vice president of integrated marketing at The Home Depot.
Neither company specified how many students will participate in the educational programs, how much funding is allocated to the community initiatives, or the deal’s overall value. The first measurable checkpoint arrives in summer, when the Community Court Tour clinics hit the ground, and the first dollar figure may not surface until the foundation donation begins in 2027-28.
Source: Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena press release, October 19, 2026
Source: Yahoo Sports (via FOX 5 Atlanta), FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team, October 19, 2026, https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/atlanta-hawks-home-depot-announce-132601861.html
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How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
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Youth Sports Business Report was founded by Cameron Korab, a sports marketing veteran with more than a decade in the industry and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Korab also co-founded Vertical Sports, a sports marketing advisory serving brands across youth, college, and pro sports.
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Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
