NBA Exec VP & CMO PAM EL is leaving the league at the end of the year. El, who joined the NBA in '14, is retiring and will serve as a consultant to the NBA. No replacement has yet been named. During her tenure with the NBA, she launched and led the NBA’s “This Is Why We Play” campaigns and helped create the WNBA’s “Watch Me Work” campaign, the rebrand of the NBA G League and the launch of the NBA 2K League. El joined the NBA from Nationwide Insurance, and she also spent a decade as VP/Marketing for State Farm. “Pam’s contributions to the NBA have been extraordinary,” NBA Deputy Commissioner & COO MARK TATUM said in a statement. “Even before she joined the league in 2014, we benefited greatly from Pam’s expertise during her time as head of marketing for State Farm Insurance, where she established vital partnerships between the NBA and WNBA and the leading U.S.-based insurance company. We are grateful for her incredible impact spearheading marketing strategy for all four of our leagues, and we wish her well in retirement after an award-winning career” (John Lombardo, THE DAILY). AD AGE's E.J. Schultz notes the NBA prior to hiring El "had not had a CMO since the 1990s," when RICK WELTS held the position. The NBA's top marketer had carried the title of Exec VP/Marketing during that period (ADAGE.com, 11/28).
