New Sights and Sounds

The NBA Draft Brings New Activations to a Star-Studded Night

There will never be a single word or phrase that can summarise the nerves, emotions, and anticipation of NBA draft night, as 60 young stars get to start the next step of making their professional dreams come true. The NBA draft has become significant for many things, including the constant battle between Woj and Shams to tweet the picks before they happen, and the suits worn by the draftees. The 2022 draft was no different, where fans were tuned in and in-person to see the fate of the teams picking in the lottery, and whatever surprises the teams had in store.

A few interesting changes to the regular NBA draft programming were made for the 2022 edition, and it was all centered around the partnerships of the league. Starting with the headline partner, State Farm, the brand teamed up with the league to make a pretty big change in how fans would hear the draft. The NBA draft jingle was changed to now play the State Farm jingle whenever a pick would be announced by Commissioner Adam Silver. Though fans watching on TV did not hear this jingle unless you were paying attention to it, fans in attendance at Barclays Centre in Brooklyn were subject to this new change. Many took to Twitter to express their disbelief that the NBA would change such a traditional and celebrated sound, which many explained triggered a Pavlovian response whenever heard by fans.

The big win of the draft? AT&T produced some touching draft profile videos of some of the lottery picks. With a hint of logo placement in the form of AT&T pop sockets on the players’ phones, the video was focused on the player’s journey to making the league, centered around staying connected to their families on their phones. It presented a great mix of product integration with the emotional connection of the draft - a great execution all around.

The eyes that are on the draft across the world have only increased with the rise of international talent in the league, particularly in the lottery. With 2 Canadians being taken in the top 8 (shoutouts to Bennedict Mathurin and Shaedon Sharpe), including the many European and African selections in the first round, it begs the question if more international partners will find avenues to participate in the draft, rather than leave the partners to a focused American market. While last year was focused on the athletes, their stardom, and the partnerships with each athlete, the wow factor with athlete partnerships at the draft was still missing. As fans look to next year’s draft and beyond the missed picks by their teams, we can only hope that the partnerships evolve as well.

June 24, 2022 - Issue 44 of The Sport Marketeer