A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. The future of the NBA’s media strategy was taking shape at this year’s All-Star weekend. The fanfare has always been about showcasing the league’s best players. But this year, the event was as much about the league’s partnership with content creators as it was about on-the-court talent. More than 200 global creators took part in the events Thursday through Sunday, facilitated by the league. It showed that the NBA appears more than happy to partner with content creators rather than limit their game access to wall off the value of live rights — where the league makes most of its money. The NBA’s new 11-year, $77 billion media rights deal began this season with deals with Disney, Amazon and Comcast’s NBCUniversal. The NBA is betting its future has space for both a growing creator base and the traditional game-viewing experience that has fueled its revenue growth. “The NBA has a long history of collaborating with talented creators who share our commitment to bringing the excitement of our games and events to fans around the world,” NBA Senior Vice President of Social and Digital Content Bob Carney said in a statement . “We’re thrilled to join forces with more creators than ever at NBA All-Star, providing opportunities for them to be active participants across virtually every event and deliver engaging content that showcases this marquee NBA event to different audiences.” A few months ago, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called the NBA “a highlights-based sport” and pointed fans to Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube for league content. Silver has decided it’s worth partnering with creators to keep Generation Z and Generation Alpha interested in the NBA as those age groups move away from watching full games the way their parents did. Embracing social media is a risky play for Silver, given the vast majority of the league’s revenue comes from the value of live games. The NBA’s big media deal has led to soaring team valuations. The average value of an NBA franchise is now $5.52 billion, 18% more than a year ago. Still, Silver may have little choice. Unlike the NFL, NBA regular season games don’t have huge audiences. This season, NBA regular season games have averaged about 2 million viewers across ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video, according to Nielsen data reported by Sports Media Watch . That compares with an average TV audience of 18.7 million for a regular season NFL game in the most recent season. A 2023 survey from marketing firm InMobi found 61% of Gen Z respondents, or those age 18 to 24 at the time of the survey, named user-generated content as their favorite form of media. Bridging the gap between content creation and live rights may be inventing a new form of alternative broadcasting, where kids can watch games along with their favorite YouTuber. A Harris Poll survey earlier this year found 37% of surveyed Gen Zers said they would watch a creator‑led co‑stream during a regular season game across pro sports. Seventy percent said they’re likely to watch their favorite creator’s feed if that person is co‑streaming a sporting event. “As time goes on, I could see in a couple of years, there’s 30 different ways to watch the Super Bowl or something like that,” said sports content creator Jesse Riedel, known as Jesser on YouTube, in an interview. “I think in the future, instead of one broadcast, there’s gonna be so many versions of a broadcast.” Riedel has more than 37 million YouTube subscribers. He co-founded a media and lifestyle company, Bucketsquad, which has annual revenue in the “solid” tens of millions, according to the company’s president, Zach Miller. Riedel noted the NBA is a cleaner fit for content creation than the NFL because fans tend to focus more on players and less on teams. Riedel features many star players in his videos, helping him to draw large viewership. “I feel like the NFL audience I have is more die-hard for their teams, but the NBA, I think, in particular, is more like player driven,” Riedel said. The rise of NBA content creation is not the only factor changing the league’s media future. Silver also spoke this weekend about how artificial intelligence will likely change the NBA viewing experience. “One area in particular that I think is worth addressing is impact on the fan experience. One of the things we’re beginning to see already is how we’re going to, more than personalize, almost hyperpersonalize our telecasts,” said Silver in an All-Star weekend press conference . “Many of you have probably experimented with this already, but in essence, you’ll be able to hear the game in any dialect, any language, you’ll be able to hear a hardcore X’s and O’s commentary, maybe one that’s more comedic if that’s what you’re interested in, or a novice explaining each foul and the rules as it goes along.” There’s inherent risk with hyperpersonalizing the game. Sports is one of the last collective experiences in American society — and certainly on television. This has led to skyrocketing media rights and the high cost of associated advertising. Perhaps having many broadcasts and AI experiences will boost interest, and targeted advertising rates will continue to spike as companies seize the opportunity to attach hyperspecific commercials to personalized content. But breaking down broadcasts into many different pieces may also deteriorate the main reason why live rights are so valuable — as a way to target millions of people all at once.
The NBA wants to embrace content creators without degrading its golden goose of live sports rights
