Ant International, the Singapore-based affiliate of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, on Friday announced a partnership with the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team New York Liberty.
The multi-year initiative would see the company’s Alipay+ fintech platform become an “official sponsor” and “innovation partner for sustainability” of the team, to “jointly support community programmes designed to advance community empowerment, environmental sustainability and youth development” across New York City, the firm said in a statement.
Alipay+ would support Liberty and its community in “urban reforestation and other conservation initiatives”, such as a community project to recycle used shoes, as well as projects for “youth sports and technology training”.Both parties on Thursday teamed up on the Liberty’s Shoe Sorting Day, in which volunteers arranged donated sneakers for distribution to homeless students in the city and provided handwritten notes of encouragement to uplift them during challenging times.
The team is owned by Alibaba Group Holding chairman and co-founder Joe Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai. Ant is an affiliate of Alibaba, which also owns the Post.
“Our partnership with Alipay+ goes beyond the game,” said Keia Clarke, CEO of New York Liberty. “Together, we are investing in the future of New York – its people, its environment and its youth.”
Ant International president Douglas Feagin said that the team’s qualities of passion, teamwork and perseverance “echo strongly with the Alipay+ community, where young entrepreneurs and global institutions partner up to push the frontier of innovation for underserved communities and small businesses”.
Founded in 1996, Liberty has made six WNBA Finals appearances and most recently won the 2024 WNBA Championship.
The sponsorship followed Ant International’s announcement earlier this month that designated Liberty player Sabrina Ionescu as its global brand ambassador. The 28-year-old point guard has been a four-time all-star in the US WNBA and was a gold medallist at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Ant International, which was spun off from Ant last year, recently announced a series of international collaborations as part of its overseas push.
It signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore’s largest bank, DBS Group, to deepen cooperation and scale cross-border payments and fintech services. It also unveiled a strategic partnership with UBS to explore using blockchain-based tokenised deposits in global treasury operations.
