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Turner opening NBA season with week of events

Turner Sports is trying to turn the opening of the NBA season into a weeklong celebration, complete with an open-air set in Times Square, fan events in New York and Cleveland, and a Kendrick Lamar concert.

The push is similar to the way the NFL treats its opening Thursday night game. In this case, however, Turner is producing the events, rather than the league.

“NBA on TNT” will return to New York City to open the season.
Photo by: LORENZO BEVILAQUA / TNT
“There are very few untapped opportunities in all of sports; we take advantage of every big idea,” said Turner Sports President Lenny Daniels. “It’s really been a push of ours to turn opening week into something big and eventful and meaningful.”

The NBA season starts Oct. 28 with three games, including one in San Antonio that TNT will carry where the Spurs will receive their championship rings.

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Even though TNT’s game is in San Antonio and against Dallas, Turner Sports is planning a day of fan events in New York City, leading up to its one-hour “NBA on TNT” pregame show that will be produced from Times Square. The second game of TNT’s doubleheader that night will be between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers.

“New York is one of the epicenters of the NBA,” said Craig Barry, Turner Sports’ senior vice president and executive creative director. “We are looking for a big place for our sponsors to activate.”

Take-Two Interactive and Samsung Galaxy are sponsoring a daylong event Oct. 28, starting at 10 a.m. in Times Square that will feature autograph sessions with retired Knicks and Nets players, drumline performances from New York’s two local teams, and kids dance team performances. The event also will feature a basketball court, “NBA 2K15” gaming lounge, and a Game Time app demo area. Samsung Galaxy will sponsor a viewing area where fans can watch that night’s games.

“We’re taking a lot of what we learned around activation at March Madness and bringing it to this and understanding how it works and how to involve people and sponsors,” Daniels said.

Two days later, Turner will sponsor another fan event around its next NBA telecast from Cleveland before the Knicks-Cavaliers game. That night’s pregame show will be produced from Turner’s Atlanta studio, but it will feature a musical performance by Lamar from Cleveland that will be sponsored by the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The mini-concert will take place at a fan event outside of Quicken Loans Arena before the game. The area opens at 4 p.m. and will show the TNT telecast on LED screens.

TNT’s second game will be between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Turner’s opening week events will be supported by a national media campaign from TNT that’s called “Home,” based on the fact that star players like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are playing for their hometown teams this year. TNT bought national TV, digital, radio and out-of-home spots for the campaign.

Turner tested an opening night event last year by producing its pregame show from New York. Executives saw enough fan and sponsor interest that they decided to expand it this year.

“We were hesitant for a long time because we didn’t know if consumers or advertisers would buy into the fact that this week is a big week that’s bigger than any of the other regular-season weeks,” Daniels said. “We found out very clearly that everybody will engage in it. It will be a big deal.”

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