The NBA Summer League in Las Vegas provided fans an intimate and friendly environment that only All-Star Weekend can match. For just $25 dollars, the price of general admission netted people a single day pass, and the championship game on Monday was just five dollars less. The Toronto Raptors’ Jonas Valanciunas and the Atlanta Hawks’ Dennis Schroeder impressed the crowd in attendance. Yet, they wouldn’t be the only form of entertainment to standout during this week-long-plus event.
Considering that this year marked the first time a tournament-style format was in effect, every game mattered. The level of interest for NBA basketball on a year-round basis hasn’t waned by any stretch; in spite of what most critics deemed as a lackluster draft and some top rookies not able to play Summer League due to injuries like first overall pick Anthony Bennett. This showcase of first and second-year players and those vying for a chance in the league has proven to be an extension of the overall brand. And Vegas as a host city serves as an ideal backdrop for tourism and additional off-season revenue.
“It’s valuable for sponsor and season ticket-holder engagement. We might use Vegas as an entire lure a potential sponsor,” Chris Clark, a Sacramento Kings spokesman, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Conversely, NBA Digital and Turner Sports continued to activate their loyal fan base through mobile and social media. They started out with the debut of the NBA Summer League App, which offered a go-to destination to consume this event-based content. The in-app and computer premium option to purchase livestream games at $14.99 dropped to $4.99 in the latter part of its first ever tournament. On social media, the league ensured sustained visibility by featuring modules present from their digital draft upgrade, like BIG Tweets Here and Social Spotlight. These components were highlighted online within the Summer League page of NBA.com.
And while the official Summer League Twitter account’s volume increased by 110 percent coupled with 915,633,546 total gross impressions of its hashtag spread over 62 countries last year, that didn’t stop the NBA from innovating a new social activation this time around.
The in-venue campaign called Seat 140 was introduced to the public. This activation consisted of a plethora of Twitter Takeovers of the @NBATV handle by numerous writers, rookies, and former and current players. Some of the players that partook in this initiative were Austin Rivers, Cody Zeller, John Wall, and Jarrett Jack. Logistically, there was a place adjacent to the announcers’ table where these guest tweeters would respond to questions submitted by fans through the #Seat140 hashtag. The name, appropriately, derived from the players’ chair while conducting these live-tweet sessions and Twitter’s 140 character limit. Moreover, all of these tweets were aggregated and showcased within the NBA.com/Seat140 page.
According to Tariq Ahmad’s, Host of the #smsportschat, research from 2011, NBA fans’ game content comprised of highlights and post-game interviews by 55 percent on Twitter, 88 percent were a fan of a player from their favorite team and 79 percent had a favorite player not from the former. These results underscored that fans have a tendency to follow a lot of players outside of their claimed team and were liable to follow other players beyond their favorite one. Just two years later, and these trends have only become more pronounced. Thus, #Seat140 was a natural extension during Summer League, especially as Twitter Takeovers have been somewhat of a staple for the @NBAonTNT handle throughout the playoffs.
The Las Vegas edition of the NBA Summer League has come and gone. The Golden State Warriors won the inaugural bracket-format over the Phoenix Suns last night. Ian Clark’s 33 points stole the show as the championship game’s MVP, while Valanciunas took home the tournament’s same honor. The buzz carried over via social media with the latest Seat 140 endeavor. This campaign served to engaged fans and propel the @NBATV property’s volume by leveraging various influencers within real-time communication marketing, which currently now stands at 732,464 Twitter followers.
They say, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” But NBA Digital’s Seat 140 is a social activation that won’t soon lose traction as a sound blueprint to follow moving forward.