The Portland Trail Blazers issued a statement refuting reports that the team’s sponsorship with a rifle scope manufacturer who has contracts with the Israeli military were ended as a result of protests.
The team issued a statement Thursday night claiming that their sponsorship with Leupold & Stevens ended after last season, and that the company opted not to renew their agreement.
“Leupold’s sponsorship contract officially expired at the end of last season and Leupold & Stevens made the decision not to renew,” the Trail Blazers said in a statement posted on the team’s Twitter account. “Their decision was business-related and not influenced by external pressure as being misreported by certain media outlets.”
Leupold & Stevens paired up with the team to sponsor the “Hometown Hero” mid-game segment, during which the team and crowd honors veterans and other individuals. A number of Portland-based organizations, including the Democratic Socialists of America, pushed for the team to end the partnership, citing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction movement, which seeks to persuade companies away from doing business with Israeli companies or companies that work with Israel over the Palestinian conflict.
#NoLeupold has become a reality! Thank you to all the people and organizations that helped create the pressure necessary to end this sponsorship! Special shout out to vet and DSA member @joesway4 for disrupting the Leupold ceremony at the game #FreePalestine https://t.co/8b38cagrGU
— Portland DSA (@PortlandDSA) September 30, 2019
Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report broke the news of the deceased partnership, tweeting that Blazers president and CEO Chris McGowan said, “Leupold is no longer a part of the organization.”
Portland DSA quote tweeted Highkin and commented, “#NoLeupold has become a reality! Thank you to all the people and organizations that helped create the pressure necessary to end this sponsorship! Special shout out to vet and DSA member @joesway4 for disrupting the Leupold ceremony at the game #FreePalestine.”
Following the Blazers’ statement that they were not pressured into ending the agreement with Leupold & Stevens, Portland DSA tweeted a gif of Jane Brady from The Brady Brunch expressing their skepticism of the team’s reasoning. They added in a subsequent tweet, “BDS works! Continue the movement and make it hard for anyone to rationalize doing business with companies that help arm apartheid Israel and companies inside Israel.”
BDS works! Continue the movement and make it hard for anyone to rationalize doing business with companies that help arm apartheid Israel and companies inside Israel.
— Portland DSA (@PortlandDSA) October 11, 2019
This contrast is concurrent to a larger scandal engulfing the league surrounding the protests in Hong Kong. A week ago, Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for the Hong Kong protesters, which sparked outrage in China, one of the leagues strongest markets outside of the country.
Morey quickly deleted the tweet and apologized, but the league has already faced damaging repercussions for the tweet in China and from their response to Morey’s tweet in the United States.
