Clippers announce patch deal with dating app Bumble

The Los Angeles Clippers announced Tuesday they inked the NBA's 20th patch partnership, coming to terms with Bumble, a dating app that allows women to initiate conversations by messaging first.

"We wanted to do something where we could really stand out and do something meaningful," said Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell. "The way it is positioned, it becomes part of the game, so it's an opportunity to have more meaning for everybody."

The team is referring to its new patch as "an empowerment badge," with Ballmer noting he doesn't want the Clippers' relationship with Bumble to simply be a sponsorship. He says he'll use the relationship to build a strong mentoring network for women in the workplace, as several top positions in the organization are already filled by women.

"If all you are doing is selling ad space, that's not a bad thing," Ballmer added. "But if we are going a step further and building joint experiences with our sponsors that allow us to bring alive what we do and they do, you can't do better than that."

The only teams still without a patch are the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, and Washington Wizards.