Ad sales for NBA TV are up more than 100% compared to this time a year ago, and those for NBA.com and related digital platforms are similarly up by strong double-digit percentages, said Turner Sports execs. Top-spending categories include telecom, automotive, financial services and retail. Among particular buys, existing league partner Cisco is expanding its sponsorship of its "NBA Ultimate Playoff Moments" campaign for this year's playoffs to include a digital hub at nba.com/moments that includes custom video playlists and additional connections to social media hubs. "We're seeing a lot of momentum thus far in the playoffs," said Turner/SI Digital Exec VP/Ad Sales Walker Jacobs. "We've invested in exclusive content, and invested in getting into new platforms, and we're seeing the marketplace really respond to that" (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
TURNER ALMOST OUT OF INVENTORY: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Lombardo & Ourand report Turner has "sold 90 percent of its NBA playoff advertising inventory while reporting a 6 percent increase in sales during the first round of the postseason." ESPN's playoff ad sales "also are pacing ahead of last year's record-high year." However, the rate of growth "has slowed compared with last year, when Turner reported a 26 percent rise in ad sales for the same period." Turner indicated that ad sales for the "highly rated 2010-11 regular season grew by 12 percent compared to an 11 percent growth in ad sales for the 2009-10 season over the 2008-09 season" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/25 issue).
