The Samsung NBA Summer League is drawing additional interest from the league’s partners this year, with FanDuel signing on as a sponsor of this month’s event in Las Vegas.
FanDuel signed a league deal with the NBA last season, with the NBA taking a minority stake in the company as part of the agreement. In Las Vegas, the Summer League showcases many of the league’s top rookies, with 23 NBA teams and one team of select D-League players competing over an 11-day period at the Thomas & Mack Center and the Cox Pavilion. This year’s event began last Friday.
 |
NBA TV will air “The Starters” from Las Vegas again this year and will carry 37 games live.
Photo by: NBAE / GETTY IMAGES
|
“FanDuel will activate at the venues from a branding standpoint,” said Kerry Tatlock, senior vice president of global marketing partnerships for the NBA, adding that the company, one of the NBA’s newest partners, will use the Summer League as a testing ground for the coming NBA season.
“They are using it to think about how they will activate for next season and moving forward,” she said. “They are doing pilot testing to further integrate the brand with the NBA.”
FanDuel joins Adidas, Gatorade, Panini and Samsung as league partners activating around the event. Those partners were active in Las Vegas last year.
Samsung began its title sponsorship last year.
All of the deals are separate from deals done for the Summer League extensions in Utah and Orlando earlier this month.
Among the other league-partner activation plans in Las Vegas, Samsung plans to create product displays and meeting space inside the Thomas & Mack Center to focus on business-to-business marketing efforts. Adidas, whose NBA apparel deal expires after the 2016-17 season, is creating apparel displays inside the Summer League venues and will promote the tournament at its Las Vegas store. Panini will have branding at the two venues and will allow fans to create their own trading cards.
All of the partners’ efforts play to the fact that the Las Vegas showcase has become a must-attend event for league and team basketball and business executives. The NBA holds league meetings and a board of governors meeting during the Las Vegas Summer League, as well.
“It’s an opportunity to meet with teams and think about future partnerships with teams,” Tatlock said.
Separate from the league partners’ plans, Caesars Entertainment signed a local hotel promotional deal specific to this year’s Las Vegas event. That deal provides for hotel room discounts for event attendees and on-site branding at the games.
On TV, 37 of the 67 scheduled games in Las Vegas will be broadcast live on NBA TV; the remainder will air on a delayed basis. All games will be available live through NBA Summer League Live, a subscription package available through NBA.com and NBA Mobile. ESPN plans to host “SportsCenter” coverage from inside the Thomas & Mack Center Monday through Wednesday..
NBA TV also is adding more ancillary programming around the Summer League this year, taking its “Open Court” roundtable discussion show to Las Vegas with plans to feature a variety of current NBA coaches, though the lineup of coaches had not been finalized as of last week. The hourlong show is slated to air July 20.
In addition, NBA TV again this year will broadcast from Las Vegas its show “The Starters,” which features nightly recaps of the games. The network will film episodes of its “After Dark with Rick Fox” features and lifestyles show in various locations around Las Vegas, as well.
“The NBA itself has become more a year-round season,” said Scooter Vertino, general manager of NBA Digital and senior vice president of programming for Turner Sports, which operates NBA TV. “Our [Summer League] audience has grown by double digits across all our platforms, and this is right in our wheelhouse.”
