The NBA will break tradition and permit corporate sponsorships on the game jerseys for the first time this season. The league is basking in an era with transcendent stars and the most-watched Finals in nearly two decades, and GumGum Sports — which uses computer vision technology to create sports media valuations — is launching its “Beyond the Broadcast” index for the new season.
Nine players have Instagram followings that eclipse 5 million, and LeBron James’ 32 million backers exceed even the league’s official account, which has 24 million. Stephen Curry has 17 million and was recently named the NBA’s top social influencer.
Given the clout of these individuals, as well as the grassroots social sharing of dunk clips, fashion statements and other entertaining highlights, GumGum has deemed that the NBA has cultivated “a healthy content syndication ecosystem where 70-90 percent of an NBA team’s sponsorship media exposure comes from non-team owned accounts,” according to Jeff Katz, GumGum Sports’ general manager.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, in his role of deputy commish in 2005, opposed a copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube for the dissemination of video clips. That openness has proved prophetic, given the exposure the league and its players have received in return.
“Rather than punish their community, they’re really embracing it,” Katz said in an interview. “They’ve really benefited from fostering that involvement and encouraging that involvement.”
GumGum, which recently partnered with the new Stadium sports network, uses artificial intelligence in its proprietary technology and six-metric checklist to evaluate the value of exposure sponsors receive, a more sophisticated approach than simply tabulating the number of engagements. The platform delves into social-media endemic sites such as House of Highlights (which has 6.5 million Instagram followers), fan groups, on-site fan posts, meme accounts and of course the players’ posts.
The top players’ hefty follower counts can have a significant impact.
“They have these massive followings,” Katz said, “and really, anything they do will create ripple effects.”
During the recent UEFA Champions League final, for example, GumGum attributed the social media accounts of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo as having single-handedly driven 69 million engagements with sponsor signage worth roughly $63 million, about 38 percent of the match’s overall social media value of $164 million.
Once the season begins, Katz offers this conjecture: Given the prominence of the sponsor logos on jerseys — and the prevalence of close-up photos in social posts — he wonders if social media posts will account for more sponsor value than TV placements.
“We don’t have the data yet, but directionally, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see something like that,” Katz said.
