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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Virtual contests, town halls keep NBA teams connected to fans

NBA teams are ramping up new fan engagement programs to keep fans connected as the league shutdown stretches into its third month. In some cases, they’re adding sponsorships around the efforts or using some as exclusive content only available to season-ticket holders.

 

“As challenging and unprecedented as the pandemic and the NBA hiatus has been, one of the opportunities is for us to double down on digital and social content,” said Matt Wolf, senior vice president of the NBA’s team marketing and business operations division. “There is a lot of stuff going on.”

The efforts to engage with fans during the shutdown are wide-ranging and focus mostly on team digital platforms. 

The Sixers held a contest for fans to design the team’s shooting shirts.

For example, the Philadelphia 76ers are conducting a contest where fans can design the team’s shooting shirts to be used when the NBA season restarts. In addition, the Sixers are holding virtual town hall meetings for season-ticket members. Team general manager Elton Brand hosted one meeting, with head coach Brett Brown hosting another. The team also created a 76ers Virtual Girls Summit featuring former WNBA players from the Philadelphia area.

The Sixers added Firstrust Bank as a sponsor around the town hall to add value to the bank’s current team deal. The girls summit was sponsored by Rothman Orthopaedics, another team partner, as the Sixers look to give value to current partners during the shutdown.

“Content and sponsorship is our business right now,” said Sixers President Chris Heck. “Every week since the pandemic, we have increased our content and fan engagements and we don’t see it slowing down. We do expect to play this summer, and we do expect fans to be back for next season so we are chugging ahead without a time frame that in time will reveal itself.”

A host of other teams are following suit with various efforts. The Utah Jazz created content with forward Georges Niang called the Drive & Dish video podcast that features teammates and other guests. Recent podcasts included interviews with University of Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham and U.S. women’s national soccer team member Amy Rodriguez. The team rolled out a “Drills and Skills” instructional video series featuring various Jazz players that is aimed at young fans at home during the shutdown.

“They have taken advantage of all content formats,” Wolf said of the Jazz. “They have played a lot with podcasts that have continued to explode.”

In New Orleans, Pelicans star rookie Zion Williamson has been a featured commentator on Fox Sports New Orleans during replays of past games. Other players and coaches are also featured on pregame and postgame shows aired around the rebroadcasts.

The Milwaukee Bucks last month rolled out a new fan engagement initiative, called BucksPlay, that features player lifestyle content, behind-the-scenes footage, player Q&As, interactive challenges and driveway drills for young players. The content on Bucks.com will be updated regularly, and the team plans to run BucksPlay for as long as the league is shut down. The effort may continue after play resumes.

In Washington, the Wizards have created a virtual coach’s clinic series on the team website with head coach Scott Brooks. The Wizards and Brooks also created the “Brooks’ Looks” charity challenge that called for Brooks’ daughter, Lexi, to cut his hair when donations reached $25,000. The program was sponsored by Fresh Vine Wine.

“Lots of teams have doubled down on creating content geared at kids and aspiring young players,” Wolf said.

Teams are also creating custom gated content available only to season-ticket holders. The Atlanta Hawks, for example, have developed sponsored events such as virtual cooking classes that featured top local chefs offered only to season-ticket holders.

“Teams are focused not only on fan engagement as a whole, but on finding ways to use content to provide added value to their most loyal customers,” Wolf said. 

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