A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sports Newsletter with Alex Sherman. This newsletter brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the world of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions directly to your inbox. The future of the NBA’s media strategy was taking shape during this year’s All-Star weekend. The fanfare was always about showcasing the league’s best players. But this year’s event was as much about the league’s partnerships with content creators as it was about the talent on the court. Sponsored by the league, more than 200 global creators participated in the event from Thursday to Sunday. This showed that the NBA seems willing to partner with the content creators that make the league the most money, rather than restricting access to games to cut off the value of live rights. The NBA’s new 11-year, $77 billion media rights deal began this season with a deal with Disney, Amazon and Comcast’s NBCUniversal. The NBA is betting that the future has room for both an expanded creator base and the traditional game-viewing experience that has driven revenue growth. “The NBA has a long history of working with talented creators who share our commitment to bringing the excitement of our games and events to fans around the world,” Bob Carney, NBA senior vice president of social and digital content, said in a statement. “We are excited to be working with more creators than ever before on NBA All-Star, to be actively involved in virtually every event, and to offer the opportunity to deliver engaging content that introduces this storied NBA event to a variety of audiences.”A few months ago, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called the NBA a “highlights-based sport” and directed fans to Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube for content from the league. Silver saw the value in partnering with creators to keep Gen Z and Alpha interested in the NBA as they move away from watching full games like their parents did. Embracing social media is a risky move for Silver, given that the majority of the league’s revenue comes from the value of live games. The NBA’s large media contracts have led to soaring ratings for the team. The average value of an NBA franchise is now $5.52 billion, an 18% increase from a year ago. Still, silver may have few options. Unlike the NFL, NBA regular season games do not draw large crowds. NBA regular season games this season averaged about 2 million viewers across ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video, according to Nielsen data reported by Sports Media Watch. This compares to the NFL’s most recent regular season average television audience of 18.7 million viewers. In a 2023 study conducted by marketing firm InMobi, 61% of Gen Z respondents, those who were 18 to 24 years old at the time of the study, cited user-generated content as their favorite form of media. To bridge the gap between content creation and live rights, new forms of alternative broadcasting could be invented that allow kids to watch games alongside their favorite YouTubers. A Harris Poll earlier this year found that 37% of Gen Zers surveyed said they would watch creator-driven simulcasts during regular season professional sports games. 70% said they are more likely to watch a feed if their favorite creator is co-streaming a sporting event. “Over time, in a few years, you’ll realize there are 30 different ways to watch something like the Super Bowl,” Jesse Riedel, a sports content creator known as YouTube’s Jesser, said in an interview. “I think in the future, instead of just one broadcast, we’re going to have many, many versions of the broadcast.” Riedel has more than 37 million YouTube subscribers. He is the co-founder of media and lifestyle company Bucketsquad, which president Zach Miller said has “solid” annual sales in the tens of millions of dollars. Riedel noted that the NBA is better suited for content creation than the NFL because fans tend to focus on the players rather than the team. Riedel has many star athletes appear in his videos and has gained a large number of viewers. “I think the NFL crowd I’m in is a lot more passionate about their team, but I feel like the NBA in particular is more player-driven,” Riedel said. The rise of NBA content production isn’t the only factor changing the league’s media future. Silver also spoke this weekend about how artificial intelligence could change the NBA viewing experience. “One of the areas that I think is particularly worth addressing is the impact on the fan experience. One of the things we’re already starting to see is how we’re going to not only personalize, but almost hyper-personalize our television broadcasts,” Silver said during an All-Star weekend press conference. “Many of you have already tried this, but essentially you can listen to the game in any dialect, in any language, and you can listen to hardcore X’s and O’s commentary. You can also hear more comedic commentary if you’re interested, and you can have newbies explain each foul and rule along the way.” Hyper-personalizing the game comes with an inherent risk. Sports are one of the last collective experiences in American society, and of course television is no different. This has led to high media rights costs and associated advertising costs. Perhaps more broadcasts and AI experiences will drive interest, and targeted ad prices will continue to rise as companies seize the opportunity to attach hyper-specific commercials to personalized content. But splitting a broadcast into many different parts can also exacerbate the main reason live rights are so valuable: as a way to target millions of people at once.
