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The 2025 season of the National Basketball Association tipped off on October 22, 2024 with a fresh look at a league that is looking to become as digitally native as its globally expansive audience is at its core. Alongside the new, younger faces of the league like Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, and Victor Wenbanyama, the league tapped two specific creators to join the campaign for the 2025 season tipoff: Kai Cenat & Drew Afualo.
CMO of the NBA, Tammy Henault, spoke about the new look and marketing approach for the league in articles for AdAge and Adweek, in which she was quoted saying,”using content creators is just a great, authentic way to reach our broader audience that already skews heavily multicultural and Gen Z.” Additionally, Adweek goes on to note that the NBA sees Kai as “an opportunity to reach out to more avid NBA fans” while Drew “offers an audience of more casual fans that the NBA has been trying to reach earlier in the season.”
Other than the ad campaign itself, the NBA invited Kai to the Knicks vs Celtics tip-off game where the league highlighted him in very similar ways to their players through an arrival moment, warm-ups, photo-ops with commissioner Adam Silver, and a custom jersey moment with 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown. With Drew, the NBA featured her across their social channels for the Suns vs. Clippers game on 10/23.
More highlights can be found on her TikTok and Instagram.
At The Kickback, one could see the future of gaming - diverse, inclusive, and richly influenced by a kaleidoscope of cultures. The Kickback fosters a sense of belonging and provides a platform for underrepresented voices in the gaming world. It’s not just about playing the games; it’s about changing the game.
