PayPal, the jersey patch companion of the Phoenix Suns, stated Friday it will not be renewing its sponsorship with the group ought to majority proprietor Robert Sarver proceed in his position following his one-year suspension for racist and misogynist remarks.
“PayPal is a values-driven firm and has a robust report of combatting racism, sexism and all types of discrimination,” PayPal CEO and president Dan Schulman stated in an announcement. “We’ve got reviewed the report of the NBA league’s unbiased investigation into Phoenix Suns proprietor Robert Sarver and have discovered his conduct unacceptable and in battle with our values.
“… In mild of the findings of the NBA’s investigation, we won’t renew our sponsorship ought to Robert Sarver stay concerned with the Suns group, after serving his suspension,” Schulman stated in his assertion.
The corporate’s sponsorship cope with the Suns, which started in 2018 and in addition contains the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and Spanish soccer group Actual Membership Deportivo Mallorca, all owned by Sarver, is about to run out after the 2022-23 season.
Sources instructed ESPN that the PayPal cope with the Suns was price $3 million through the 2021-22 season.
Sarver, who’s suspended for one season as a part of the punishment introduced Tuesday by the NBA, can return to the Suns for the 2023-24 season.
The league stated the investigation discovered that in his time with the Suns and Mercury, Sarver used the N-word no less than 5 occasions “when recounting the statements of others.”
There additionally had been “cases of inequitable conduct towards feminine workers,” the NBA stated in its assertion, together with “sex-related feedback” and inappropriate feedback on workers’ appearances.
The NBA commissioned an investigation within the wake of an ESPN story in November 2021 detailing allegations of racism and misogyny throughout Sarver’s 17 years as proprietor.