NBA Teams Cash In On Schedule Release

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

Instagram just handed you a free reach boost—if you move fast.

When a social platform launches a new feature, early adopters often get a temporary algorithm bump. Right now, that feature is Instagram’s new Repost tool.

Instagram now lets users repost Reels and feed posts. These show up in the feeds of friends of the reposter (including a new Friends tab for Reels) and in a “Reposts” tab on profiles.

My focus? Repost to Win.

Back when X was still Twitter, Repost to Win was one of the only organic sweepstakes formats that actually worked—easy to enter, and the platform rewarded shares. That’s no longer true on X, but Instagram may give early reach love to Reposts.

The play:

• Boost reach KPIs with the repost feature.

• Require a follow as part of entry to grow your audience.

• OR consider pairing it with joining your Broadcast Channel if you’re investing in that space.

Encourage brand partners to do the same. Let them tap into your digital IP (if included in the partnership) to run Repost to Win sweepstakes on their own channels—then share them with your followers.

And for any sponsored content living only on a partner’s page, use the repost feature to push it to your audience (where it makes sense!). In most cases, your reach will be bigger, giving partners valuable extra exposure. Note - this is also a great feature to share players’ content as well as fan-generated content.

New features rarely stay “cheat codes” for long. Test Instagram Reposts now while the odds are in your favor—and track the lift.

In Today’s Edition:

• NBA Schedule Release Scouting Report 📋️ 

• House Hunters: NFL Rookies Edition 🏠️ 

• RSL Fans Arrive In Style 😎

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
2025 NBA Schedule Release By The Numbers

We’re dropping a special Friday edition of Sponcon Sports—this time for the 2025 NBA Schedule Release. Let’s get into the standout stats and trends:

Sponsorship Stats

• 97% of teams (29 of 30) produced a Schedule Release video. The lone exception? The Cleveland Cavaliers, who went with a @thelittlebluedood-themed concept.

• 67% of teams (20 of 30) had a sponsor attached to their hero asset.

• 7% of teams (2 of 30) sponsored graphics only—Pizza Hut for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Capital One for the Washington Wizards.

• 95% of teams (19 of 20) with a sponsored hero asset included the brand’s logo and tagged them (though three skipped tagging on X, doing it on other channels instead).

• 0 teams integrated partner product into their release, but six teams baked brand logos into the video (Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers). The Jazz even gave SeatGeek a verbal shoutout in their ASMR piece.

• 3 teams leaned into pet adoption (Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers).

• 14 brands appeared across Schedule Release content.

• Ticketmaster sponsored 42% of branded assets (8 of 19)—nearly 4x more than the next most frequent, SeatGeek (3 teams).

Beyond ticketing, only Toyota showed up twice (Philadelphia 76ers, Blazers). Other categories represented were:

• Medical (3): OrthoSouth (Memphis Grizzlies), Advent Health (Magic), Kaiser Permanente (Golden State Warriors)

• Banking (2): Capital One (Wizards), Chase (New York Knicks)

• Airline (1): Delta (Los Angeles Lakers)

• Mortgage (1): Rocket Mortgage (Cavs)

• Grocery (1): HEB (San Antonio Spurs)

• QSR (1): Pizza Hut (Thunder)

My Personal Favorites

• Hawks – Big swing with a 24-hour StateFarm Arena livestream featuring local creator David Dodds. Highlights included many special guests, including 2 Chainz showing up at 2 a.m. Bonus points for Ticketmaster branding on digital signage. Curious to see stream numbers and SMS signups from their sweepstakes.

• Bulls – Benny the Bull’s Toy Store was another strong concept, with more top-notch AT&T integration. Wouldn’t be shocked if action figures showed up as giveaway items during the regular season based on how this squad normally operates.

• Rockets – “The Speed Tour” with local realtor Trenton Miller was delightfully ridiculous and entertaining.

Content Trend: B-Side Schedule Release

With TikTok’s rise (and the Titans’ infamous “Guess the Logo” video), more teams are creating secondary schedule release content to fit that platform. Seven NBA teams went this route: Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, Toronto Raptors, Clippers, and Magic.

The Raptors dropped two extra pieces (Torontone Raptorzio | Just For Laughs)… until the Mavs said “hold my beer” and released five: Schedule Haul, Memories Carousel, Putting The Season On The Map, Trotting Into Season, and Doom Scrolling.

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

Overtime SZN took fans inside rookie Las Vegas Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty’s search for a $15M mansion with Ram Trucks. Meanwhile, New York Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart toured NYC penthouses.

Now this is how you make your Player Arrival content series stand out! Real Salt Lake and Toyota are letting fans star in the club’s Arrivals social posts—and more.

The LA Kings and @boho_basement gave away tickets plus a custom jacket/skirt set made from unsold merch—a perfect idea to turn into an offseason series with a brand focused on sustainability and upcycling.

The Chicago White Sox teamed up with First We Feast and Chicagoland native Sean Evans on a limited-edition New Era Cap, available exclusively at Rate Field. Evans even got a taste of some high heat on the Southside.

Atlanta United is back with more carousel storytelling sponcon. They launched Passport Series with Delta Air Lines, kicking off with Saba Lobzhanidze’s global football journey.

If you’ve got a partner focused on speed (think auto, fitness, and fintech categories), you need to try this concept from baseball creator Kait Maniscalco.

The Dallas Cowboys nailed product placement—down to the tally—in their YETI Coolers Bucket Toss Challenge.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Elite Call Back: The New York Giants spoofed a classic Mike Francesa WFAN call for an upcoming episode of The Eli Manning Show presented by Prism [h/t Nilay Shah].

Business Of The Bobble: Christopher M. Weiner broke down how smart partnerships can turn giveaway items into high-impact brand assets [via The Partnership Playbook Newsletter].

The Ultimate Fan Funnel: Kyle Whittingham explained how to nail player arrival content—plus how to monetize it and turn it into an earned media moment [via Sports Marketing with Kyle Whittingham].

Ad Gamification: Spotify created its first audio gaming ad for Netflix’s ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ [via Kristina Monllos, Marketing Brew].

Smarter Renewals: Dan Kozlak shared three critical components your brief should include level up your sponsorship renewal.

Formula 1 Flair: adidas tapped longtime collaborator Bad Bunny to join its Mercedes F1 partnership, debuting an apparel drop, signature sneaker tease, and Puerto Rico’s first-ever F1 car run to turn sponsorship into cultural cachet [via Daniel-Yaw Miller, SportsVerse]