Melissa Rosenthal Brenner fought through laryngitis to accept the NBA's award for Best in Sports Social Media. While she may have had difficulty getting out some of her thank yous, it is not hard to understand why the NBA won. With 1 billion followers across team, league and player social media platforms, the NBA is the runaway leader in the category. It also became the first organization, in or out of sports, to surpass 1 billion loops on Vine. “It's producing the right content and the right platform at the right time,” Brenner said in an interview after accepting the award. “Being very focused on how we bring the best experience to our fans globally on a daily basis. And we are always looking for what’s next.” Asked how the league has been so successful, she replied, “Like anything in life, it's a lot of things. One is the leadership of [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver; two is our players who are incredibly active in social; and three is a really young and engaged fan base.” The NBA also integrated its out-of-market TV package into social media, allowing fans to click through from Twitter and Facebook to live games.
