Turner Sports this week plans to launch an All-Star Game-themed area within NBA.com that will include four video channels, behind-the-scenes content and a heavy emphasis on user-generated material.
The offering, dubbed All-Star Scene, aims to move beyond traditional media coverage of the annual event, slated for this weekend in Phoenix. The site will have dedicated areas that showcase content developed by players, content related to celebrities and the party scene around town, and interactive elements such as a Twitter-like real-time social-networking feed. Fans also will be asked to contribute by uploading videos, photos and comments.
All-Star Scene coverage will
be heavily user-generated.
“We’re going after a fly-on-the-wall level of access that’s never been done before online,” said Bryan Perez, senior vice president and general manager of NBA Digital. “We want to take the cover off of what this partnership [with the NBA] means.”
This season is the first in a long-term partnership in which Turner is managing the day-to-day operations of NBA.com, NBA TV and several other league digital properties. To that end, the heavy fan and media focus on All-Star Weekend represents something of a second coming-out party, following Turner’s late-October revamp of NBA.com.
“We had a massive transition bringing the operation down from Secaucus [N.J., site of NBA Entertainment], getting that under our belt [in Atlanta, where Turner is based]. That’s now done, so yeah, this does sort of feel like a new beginning,” Perez said. “But this is a very different thinking. It’s about experiencing the event through the eyes of the players, the celebs, the other fans and so forth, and doing it all in as close to real-time as possible.”
It’s expected that many of the interactive elements of All-Star Scene will make their way onto other parts of NBA.com and NBA TV following the All-Star Game.
First-year league tech partner Hewlett-Packard is sponsoring a video channel within All-Star Scene dedicated to the weekend’s Jam Session and Block Party events. Other prominent sponsors will include T-Mobile.
