NBA Gives Influencers Hoops Stage In Las Vegas To Promote League Brand
ADVERTISEMENT
Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.
ADVERTISEMENT
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — They’re part of the NBA’s marketing strategy and they can reach potential new fans in ways conventional advertising would miss.
The NBA put its content creators on a stage Sunday to give them a chance to play hoops on the actual court that will be used for Tuesday’s NBA Cup final between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The content creators produce videos that come off as authentic, organic and real to young fans coveted by the NBA.
“These guys allow us to have an authentic voice,” said Bob Carney, senior vice president of social and digital content. “We need to be where our fans are.”
And that means online or on a cell phone.
The creators played their own “Cup” competition at T-Mobile Arena Sunday afternoon as two squads squared off. There were all kinds of creators, from content makers named Jesser to Meka.
Nobody knows better that these young creators function as NBA brand ambassadors than league Commissioner Adam Silver.
Silver took a photo with You Tuber, online streamer and influencer Kai Cenat before the Boston Celtics game where the Celtics raised their 2023-24 championship banner this season.
“He gets it. He understands the importance of reaching that demo,” Carney said of Silver’s support for the NBA’s creator program.
For the NBA Cup in Las Vegas, the NBA has 50 creative influencers on site, including 26 content creators who played in Sunday’s Cup game won by a game-winner by creator Trey Phills.
For a decade now, the NBA and creators have forged a mutually-beneficial relationship.
The NBA gives the influencers access to player and events and the creators crank out original content that promotes the NBA brand for their millions of followers.
That’s why they’re here in Las Vegas for the NBA Cup.
“We formalized the relationship to make them even stronger,” Carney said.
