FEED Issue 12

57 XTREME NBA

hen it comes to consuming sport through the internet,

social media has boosted that momentum. In the week leading up to this year’s game, the NBA orchestrated several events within the community that were later promoted online. Tiger Films, the production arm of industry marketing specialist Digital Media Services and the NBA’s go-to team for digital commercial content in the UK and Europe, films these events. It also cut and edited footage for distribution across the NBA’s social and digital channels. “There were nine events in total,” explains Michael Northern, head of Tiger Films. “Some involved work within the community, while others were for entertainment value. On day one, we were at the Savoy Grill with chef Gordon Ramsay, as he taught NBA legends Caron Butler and Shawn Marion how to cook steak.” “At the same time,” he adds, “we had another crew filming at a community centre in North London, where the WNBA was leading a junior basketball coaching

session for girls. From these events, we produced short, one- to two-minute pieces that were delivered to the NBA’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook handles, including its website, nba.tv. Sky Sports also used them on its news channel.” As Northern points out: “It’s actually the first time Sky has had the rights to the NBA – BT Sports had it before. Sky is more engaged with the NBA and has used a lot more of our content on its news channel. It’s been great for promotion.” He explains the pieces were delivered either on the day or on the following day, due to the sheer amount of noise that goes on during that week. “It creates more of a build-up that way, too.” Subsequent events included a DJ masterclass between Caron Butler and DJ iLLspokinn and an interview with the game’s sponsor, Norwegian Air. The interview was later shown on the jumbotron in the stadium on game night.

nothing comes close to the National Basketball Association (NBA). While other sport leagues have cracked down on unlicensed sites or social media users who post videos without permission, the NBA has a different attitude. It has adopted an openness to users sharing and dissecting game footage in the digital world. With NBA’s encouragement of video sharing via social media, it’s allowed NBA fans to comment in real time, exchange humorous captions and, of course, create memes. Players can also share technique, performance comments or post snippets about their personal lives. It has reshaped the nature of discourse throughout the game season, giving fans worldwide the opportunity to take part. The NBA now has one of the largest social communities in the world, with 36.6m and 26.49m followers for Facebook and Twitter, respectively. B-BALL ACROSS THE POND Keeping up the momentum, the NBA takes its regular season games offshore for fans across the world to catch live. In the UK, the NBA has hosted an annual game in London for the past nine years. There’s always buzz around these games and

WE WERE AT THE SAVOY GRILL WITH GORDON RAMSAY, TEACHING NBA LEGENDS HOWTO COOK STEAK

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