Veracruz, Mexico - The NBA D-League announced on Tuesday a non-traditional sponsorship between the state of Veracruz in Mexico and the Texas Legends.

The state's marketing phrase "Veracruz Incomparable" will appear on the front of the team's jerseys beginning this Saturday making it the first state in Mexico to have its name on the jerseys of a team that doesn't play there.

The tourism phrase of the state of Veracruz will also have prominent placement on the court, which will be called the "Veracruz Court at Dr Pepper Arena."

Veracruz, in fact, is located some 1,200 miles from Frisco, Texas, where the Legends play. But the state believes it has something to sell - mainly its port city which is also named Veracruz and is its hub for tourism.

The fight to get the American dollar to Mexico has become more intense in recent years as the tourism business has picked up. Last month, the Mexico Ministry of Tourism reported that from January 2007 to September 2012, nearly 131 million tourists visited the country, up 12.1 percent from the same time span preceding it. The number of people staying overnight in the country increased by 18.3 percent during the almost 6 year span.

People of Hispanic origin make up 38 percent of the population in Texas, and projections show that the ethnic group is on pace to represent the majority of the state's population by the year 2030.

The Texas Legends are coached by Mexican-born, former NBA Dallas Mavericks player Eduardo Najera.