Turner Ahead Of Last Year's NBA Advertising Sales

LeBron James Helping Lead NBA’s Resurgence

Turner is “already close to selling out of its fourth-quarter [NBA ad] inventory while also signing a new pregame sponsor in Autotrader.com,” according to John Lombardo of the SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Turner Sports Exec VP/Sales Trish Frohman: “We are pacing ahead of last year. We are virtually sold out for the fourth quarter, getting there faster than we have in the past.” Frohman said that the company “boosted ad rates for the first quarter but would not disclose the specific rates.” One media buyer said that he “expected single-digit rate increases.” Lombardo reports Autotrader.com replaces Nokia as the sponsor of TNT’s pregame show on the network’s exclusive Thursday night coverage. Also, T-Mobile returns as sponsor of the halftime show, Southwest Airlines returns as a sponsor of game breaks, and Hyundai will continue to sponsor the “Inside the NBA” postgame show. Optimedia Exec VP/National Electronic Media’s Larry Novenstern noted, “The NBA is having a bit of a resurgence and it’s built around [Cavaliers F] LeBron James, [Heat G] Dwyane Wade and [Nuggets F] Carmelo Anthony” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/23 issue).