Inside the NBA's Newest Sponcon Trends

60+ posts of digital partnership inspiration from across the league

Author

Alex Kopilow
October 31, 2024

👋 Welcome back to Sponcon Sports, a weekly newsletter dedicated to sponsored content strategy in the sports industry!

Gotta love it when a sponsorship idea comes from a pasta brand!

Last week, I got a TikTok where someone paid for their subway ride with a box of Barilla pasta.

To celebrate World Pasta Day on October 25th, Barilla gave the first 3,500 commuters at the 34th Street-Hudson Yards station a special pasta box. But it wasn’t just any box—this one doubled as a one-way OMNY Ticket to Togetherness, encouraging people to share a meal with loved ones as a Sign of Love.

All riders had to do was tap and scan the box’s decal at the designated OMNY turnstile to ride like a regular ticket.

Consider this strategy for your team’s next in-person event: provide fans with a brand partner’s product that doubles as fare for public transit (train, bus, rideshare, or bike).

This approach enhances the fan experience by saving them money on the commute, builds positive brand associations, and—like Barilla’s example—can generate earned media.

Choose the product wisely, and it can offer fans value beyond the transit fare. Imagine Barilla sponsoring a team 5K: not only could they cover transportation from bib pickup, but fans could use the pasta to carb-load before race day.

In Today’s Edition:

  • NBA Sponcon Scouting Report 🔍️

  • Islanders Fire Up Win Posts 🔥

  • Barstool Yak’s BODYARMOR Gauntlet 🏃

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🏊️ DEEP DIVE
The Best Sponsored Content From The NBA’s First Week

New Season season is officially in the books.

The NFL is in full swing, the NHL is rolling, and last week, the NBA tipped off its 2024-25 season.

I’ve pulled together fresh sponsored content inspiration from all 30 teams (and the league)—featuring memorable names, standout creative, and clever integrations.

With over 60 posts to cover, let’s dive right in. Here’s what caught my eye from the NBA’s opening week!

New and Notable

Bird’s Eye View presented by Grey Goose, courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks, is one of my favorite new sponcon name-brand pairings. Plus, it capitalizes on the high-angle video trend.

The Miami Heat debuted Charting Greatness with Carnival Cruises, celebrating Pat Riley’s 30 years with the team. The connection? Riley’s first press conference was held on the Carnival Imagination.

Hats off to the Utah Jazz and Stanley 1913! They’re selling a co-branded tumbler that is the first refillable drinkware allowed inside the Delta Center—a win for the team, the brand, and the fans.

The Toronto Raptors have a new partner for their Winning Numbers series: JackpotCity Ontario. Last year’s edition was sponsored by Castrol, but this year’s version embraces the casino theme with a slot-machine aesthetic.

Love how the Brooklyn Nets leaned into the overhead POV trend for their Home Opener Hype Graphic with new jersey patch partner, GetYourGuide. The brand also sponsors its uniform reveals—an ideal asset for patch partners.

This Nike-sponsored prank video featuring LeBron and Bronny James feels like a modern This Is SportsCenter commercial—and it’s hilarious.

The Los Angeles Lakers recently rebranded several sponcon series:

The Chicago Bulls are heading in a fresh direction with sponsor integrations, using transparent backgrounds so fans can see more action. This visual style carries over nicely to their YouTube thumbnails.

Staying in the windy city, Foot Locker replaced Klarna in the team’s branded arrival hallway. Meanwhile, their Rookie Rides series with Sixt is a smart way to introduce new players while integrating a sponsor’s product.

The New York Knicks launched The Knickerbocker (Chase Freedom Unlimited), a newspaper for their home opener featuring player Q&As, comic strips, and puzzles—available in both print and digital formats.

The Boston Celtics dropped another killer edit ahead of their season opener (TD Bank).

Fresh Fit Arrivals (Kroger) has jumped from the NFL (Cincinnati Bengals) to the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Golden State Warriors spiced things up by giving players a 360-camera as they boarded their team plane (United Airlines), breaking away from the usual photos and videos.

Emerging Trends

The Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks are spotlighting local small businesses in partnership with Eleven Sports Media—a company focused on building community-driven sports collaborations.

Both are passing through rights to game-day content.

Milwaukee features each business with a logo lockup and end slate on their Play of the Game posts (e.g., Best Electric Service, ENGAUGE Workforce Solutions). Meanwhile, LA highlights businesses in pregame warm-up posts, tagging them where possible and including them in a logo lockup (PDQ Equipment, Mesa Garage Doors).

Staying out west, the Portland Trail Blazers are celebrating local flavors with Trail Blazers Restaurant Week. Ten local restaurants are serving Blazers-inspired menu items that show the connection to food and culture in Portland. Fans who order these dishes at participating locations also get a free Rip City Runs Deep giveaway item.

This framework is a standout approach—especially for brands in financial services and food delivery.

Every team unveiled their NBA Cup courts for this year’s In-Season Tournament. With a year to see how everything unfolded, I’ve noticed more presenting sponsors of the event at the team level, including:

The Nets and Orlando Magic are trying to drive more fans toward their YouTube pages.

Brooklyn shared a content plan in September highlighting their long-form franchises. Orlando took a slightly different approach, sharing a look ahead for the week of all planned YouTube content.

I’m a big believer in YouTube and think sports teams haven’t fully tapped into its potential beyond game-day staples like highlights and press conferences. It’s great to see teams sharing schedules for episodic content—especially as YouTube continues to evolve into a TV-like platform.

Most teams publish Performance of the Game as a static graphic. But the Clippers, in partnership with KIA, take a different route—overlaying player stat lines onto video. This shift from graphics to video is a growing trend I've noticed globally, with Manchester United’s Starting XI posts and the All Blacks’ Next Up series.

In most cases, trigger promotions don’t need dedicated social media posts (I wrote more about that here). They can be integrated into other content, like how the Magic do it with Papa Johns.

That said, Chick-fil-A’s Bricken’ For Chicken campaign is an exception. If the opponent misses two free throws in the fourth quarter, fans win a free chicken sandwich. Crowds across the league go wild for it, making it perfect for social content.

The key takeaway: If your partner insists on their trigger promotion being shared organically, we need to reverse-engineer the approach to get fans excited. It’s not guaranteed to work, but it’s worth testing.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers did something clever—highlighting how their rookies are responsible for bringing Chick-fil-A on road trips.

Sponsorship Targets

Here’s a handful of great concepts that aren’t sponsored (yet!).

The NBA’s new Dunk Score stat is practically begging for an analytics or AI partner like Google or Microsoft.

The Celtics' Moments In Between series was so calming and engaging—Calm or Headspace would be a perfect fit to promote mindful pauses.

The Lakers’ Guards vs. Bigs series gives fans exactly the kind of behind-the-scenes practice coverage they crave. This would be a natural fit for Nike—or even Gatorade, fueling the moment.

Three Things with Royce Young is back for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Love how the green screen effect makes it feel native to social media. This would be a great fit for a fantasy sports brand like DraftKings, since sports betting isn’t legal in Oklahoma.

This concept involves the Thunder, though it wasn’t created by the team. What a creative way to release a uniform schedule—and it’s a perfect asset for a jersey patch partner like Love’s.

Bucks In Six is a team podcast that recaps every game in six minutes—a nod to their 2021 Championship run. With its frequency (82 games + playoffs), snackability, and strong mid-to-lower-funnel integration opportunities, it’s a solid sponsorship asset.

Returning Favorites

You’ve got the check out the latest edition of the Nets’ From ___ to Brooklyn series (Qatar Airways) featuring Dennis Schröder.

On the Move, presented by Sixt, is back for the Lakers—perfect brand-content alignment for instant player reactions after wins.

Player Tracker is a sponcon series name I keep in my back pocket for a delivery brand, like what the Grizzlies do with FedEx.

Bulls Drops (American Express) is one of my favorite mobile app activations across the league—a smart way to generate qualified leads for brand partners.

The Knicks’ Must Sea Moments connects MSC Cruises so well with their game highlights series.

Sticking with post-win content, I really enjoy when the Warriors use the split-screen style on their Michelob Ultra Joy Cam. It feels like a bite-sized version of Arsenal F.C’s Bench Cam.

I’m curious if the Phoenix Suns’ CarMax Cam would pick up sponsor branding under the backboard. If so, it would be a great digital asset to pair with that signage. If not, I wonder if the league would allow branding on the lip behind the backboard.

Basketball, especially the NBA, is built for monetizing in-game highlights. There are no limits on what or how much you can post—for example, six highlights per game is almost guaranteed.

The Charlotte Hornets lean into this with Drilling Threes (Lowe’s) and Hornets Dunks (Dr. Pepper).

The Knicks’ Splash Cam powered by Starry is a great fit, given Starry’s sponsorship of the All-Star three-point contest.

Loving the new designs of the 76ers' Tale of the Tape (Betway) and Home Court Advantage (NJM Insurance).

The production of the Bucks’ Top Plays of the Week (BMO) is great. Logo placement avoids icon obstruction and the graphic animations are quick so fans can stay locked into the action. Tagging is a must here given there is no brand presence in the carousel’s first frame.

Also great to see a financial brand tied to team transactions, like the Mavericks' Mavs Moves series presented by Chime.

And finally, Magic Numbers presented by SAS is a strong match connecting to players’ statistics.

🔍 SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

The Buffalo Sabres run a “Question of the Day” series right after practice, calling it Fresh Off The Ice—presented by Coca-Cola. That name is too good not to repurpose for a product that needs to stay cool or a hygiene brand that keeps athletes feeling fresh. It’d even work perfectly for a win cam!

Red Bull Racing took it to the next level by mounting a camera on its Mobil 1 oil syringe, giving fans a POV shot of the action during pit stops. The unique angle promoted a YouTube video showcasing how ExxonMobil keeps Red Bull’s engines running at peak performance.

Tailoring “presented by” tags to fit sponsors is a smart way to customize sponcon. The New York Islanders nailed it—after wins, their final score posts are “fired up by Solo Stove,” their new jersey patch partner.

Barstool Yak runs a sports-themed obstacle course with guests called The Gauntlet, which is perfect for capturing attention on social media and branded integrations. BODYARMOR presents the event and even includes a branded bottle football toss.

You need to check out the Los Angeles Chargers' EQ Tok playlist on TikTok. The series, which launched in February, gives fans an inside look at the team’s equipment room. The latest episode breaks down the types of NFL visors, rules for in-game use, and what happens with players’ custom visors. Naturally, Oakley—a league partner—is featured prominently, showing how these collaborations can unlock sponsorship opportunities for both B2B and B2C brands.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Barca x Spotify Coldplay Follow Up: FC Barcelona’s growth manager, Judit Turon, shares how their registration-only strategy drove high-quality leads during their Coldplay presale campaign.

NBA Player Sponcon: See the top five player-brand collaborations from the NBA offseason and a look at this year's most marketable rookies on social media [Corey Bruno, Out2Win Weekly Report].

NBA Creator Program: Why the NBA is helping basketball creators make longer YouTube videos [Sam Bradley, Digiday].

YouTube Shorts Engagement: Check out this video to see how to add the poll sticker to your YouTube Shorts.

New Threads Insights Guide: Meta launched a new hub featuring educational resources for Threads, which include best practices, data-backed tips, and content examples for creators.

STEM Feed Widely Available: TikTok expanded its STEM Feed to all US, UK, and Ireland users. This could be a great opportunity for B2B brand partnerships [Andrew Hutchinson, Social Media Today].

🏃 BEFORE YOU GO
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