By: Jack Lee

The Chinese breakfast brand plans to connect arena dining, retail and community sports in a bid to become part of families’ everyday lives.

At Madison Square Garden (MSG) in Midtown Manhattan, an exchange of gifts marked a new partnership: the New York Knicks presented breakfast brand Yelophant with an autographed jersey, and the company returned the gesture with a traditional Chinese bronze ding, a ceremonial vessel originally used for cooking and serving food.

The occasion marked the signing of a strategic partnership agreement naming Yelophant an official partner of the Knicks. Its products received the designation of an Official Pre-Packaged, Ready-to-Heat Asian Breakfast Product of the team.

One detail of the deal reaches beyond conventional sponsorship. Yelophant products will become part of the food served in Madison Square Garden’s suites and hospitality spaces, with meals also provided for athletes.

The arrangement links the experience of watching a game with the experience of trying a product. It also raises a broader business question for food companies focused on nutrition: How can a sports partnership help a brand become part of consumers’ daily routines?

Turning Visibility Into Product Experience

Sports sponsorship gives companies access to established audiences, strong fan communities and settings where people spend time and money. For a food brand, that visibility is a starting point. What matters next is whether consumers try the product, form an opinion through experience and eventually make room for it at home.

Yelophant’s partnership with the Knicks seeks to connect those steps. Under the announced arrangements, MSG’s suites and hospitality spaces will offer dedicated Yelophant menus, and athletes will also receive meals featuring the products.

At a venue such as Madison Square Garden, food is part of an experience that combines sports, entertainment and socializing. Serving that audience requires attention to flavor, quality, nutrition and the way a meal is prepared and presented.

For Yelophant, entering the arena’s food service operations gives its products a role beyond brand promotion: guests will be able to taste them. The commercial logic is straightforward. A game can introduce a brand to an audience; a meal can give that audience something more tangible to judge.

Starting With the Family Breakfast

Founded in 2020, Yelophant focuses on nutritious breakfast foods for children ages 4 to 14. Breakfast is a recurring part of family life, shaped by nutrition, taste and how much time parents have to prepare it. For a children’s food brand, product development means continually balancing parents’ health priorities with what children actually want to eat.

Founder and CEO Wang Yi describes Yelophant as a brand willing to take its time. He says it develops products to “championship standards,” guided by two practical questions: Would parents be willing to serve the food to their children every day? And would their children want to eat it every day?

That philosophy also applies to food served in sports venues, though the needs of professional athletes and families are different. Athletes place demanding requirements on food quality and nutrition. Families also weigh nutrition, taste and convenience. In both settings, a product has to work in everyday use.

Yelophant products are already sold in North American markets including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas and Vancouver. The Knicks partnership adds a connection between arena dining and retail: consumers may encounter a product at a game, then purchase the same type of food to prepare at home.

That transition is not automatic. Sustained demand depends on the product meeting consumers’ needs and being available through the right retail channels. A partnership can create an introduction. Whether it leads to a lasting place in the household depends on the experience that follows.

Taking Fan Engagement Into the Community

Sports teams also bring people together through shared loyalties, viewing habits and in-person events. Those connections can last well beyond a single game.

As part of the partnership, Yelophant and the Knicks plan to host a breakfast watch party in Beijing around the season opener. They also plan to hold Fuel the Future Week, with youth basketball, community basketball and fan activities. In New York, Yelophant will serve as presenting partner of the Knicks’ Lunar New Year Theme Night, sharing Chinese food and holiday traditions with local fans.

These activities extend the partnership from professional games into fan gatherings and neighborhood settings. For a food company focused on nutrition, they offer opportunities to engage with families and young people around sports and healthy living.

Yelophant has already established several relationships in youth sports. Since 2024, it has become an official sponsor of China’s national U16–U17 basketball teams and an official partner of China’s national U18 ice hockey team. It has also entered into a three-year strategic partnership with the National Youth Basketball Open (NYBO) and become an official partner of the Li-Ning China Primary School Basketball League and its training camps.

Youth tournaments and a professional basketball team reach people in different settings, but both touch on exercise, growing up and family life. Games give people a reason to participate together; community activities carry that engagement beyond the competition. For a brand, those repeated encounters may help build a more enduring relationship with consumers.

Making Room in Everyday Life

Sports and nutritious food connect with different parts of daily life. One encourages movement and participation; the other addresses what people eat. Their overlap extends from meals for professional athletes to the routines of ordinary households.

The Yelophant–Knicks partnership explores that overlap through product experiences, fan gatherings and community programs. From food service at Madison Square Garden to a breakfast watch party in Beijing and local basketball activities, the aim is to connect the brand’s products with experiences people share.

A healthier lifestyle takes shape across those routines: eating, being active and spending time with family. The opportunity for Yelophant and the Knicks lies in becoming part of that everyday pattern, from the basketball court to the breakfast table.