Introduction
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a famous basketball league that has spread its influence worldwide. Everyone knows it and has no doubts it will remain popular as a sporty lifestyle is highly promoted nowadays. The organization was chosen because it has long been in the industry and has succeeded worldwide in promoting its teams and players. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the current sales and promotion strategies of the NBA and suggest additional methods to track its possible development.
Background
The NBA is a global sports organization that promotes basketball in all its forms. It is the premier league of world basketball and one of the leading sports organizations in North America. The league was founded in 1946, on June 6, in New York City. Initially, the company was called the Basketball Association of America (BAA). It consisted of 2 divisions, which included 11 teams, but later the composition changed (Mintzer, 2020).
The NBA includes 30 professional clubs in the USA and Canada (“NBA history,” n. d.). All teams were divided into two conferences – Western and Eastern, each consisting of three divisions. The clubs play 82 games throughout the season, and after the end of the NBA championship, the top 8 teams from each conference enter a series of playoff games (“NBA history,” n. d.). This is a series of elimination games with up to four wins. In the finals, the winners of the Eastern and Western Conferences meet and identify the NBA champion.
Today, the NBA is a global sports organization that manages five professional sports leagues, including the NBA, WNBA, Basketball Africa League, NBA G League, and NBA 2K League. NBA games are on TV and internet platforms in more than 215 countries and translated into 50 languages (“NBA history,” n.d d.). It presents the best basketball players to the world to prove that nothing is impossible. Considering the ever-growing nature of sports, the organization promotes a healthy lifestyle and participates in numerous related initiatives. Its other goal involves people watching or playing basketball (Salaga et al., 2019). Therefore, it has a strong marketing team to ensure high sales and effective promotion.
Sales and Promotion
Sports marketing promotes sports events, teams, and merchandise related to the sports team or event. It is an aspect of sports promotion that incorporates numerous sectors of the sports industry (Dick & Schwarz, 2020). Namely, it includes broadcasting, advertising, social networks, digital platforms, ticket sales, and PR (Salaga et al., 2019). Considering the scope of the NBA, it is relevant to state that the organization has effectively developed its sales and promotion strategies. It is wise to manage business processes smoothly, expanding its influence worldwide.
The benefits of sports marketing for the NBA are extensive. Stakeholders participating in sports include leagues, teams, athletes, and fans. It also relates to places where the events are hosted. It also relates to places where the events are hosted. Mass media and companies that are investing in the event also receive recognition and financial rewards (Dick & Schwarz, 2020). Direct revenue also goes to leagues, teams, and athletes because they are the event’s core. Hosting cities and countries also get money from taxes, and all stakeholders benefit from impacting the sports industry.
In this sense, the NBA is highly developed because it hosts numerous events annually. In addition, it mostly receives revenue from ticket sales and TV deals. For example, last year, its gain equaled around ten billion dollars. Specifically, only the Los Angeles Lakers got over $316 million, which makes them the most popular team (Dick & Schwarz, 2020). The organization’s sales are among the highest in the industry, which is conditioned by its promotional activities.
One of the major promotional strategies used by the organization is the invitation of famous people. Celebrities actively attend NBA games; specifically, they participate in All-Star Weekend. All-Star Celebrity Game is another event where such celebrities as Justin Bieber, Kendall Jenner, and Brandon Armstrong are invited to take part (Dick & Schwarz, 2020).
Since renowned actors, singers, and business people attract individuals, they are often seen at games. For instance, during Koby Bryan’s last match, David Beckham was spotted, which gave a lot of material to the press. In addition, the digital life of the NBA is vivid. The organization has numerous fan bases on social media and follows numerous celebrities and influencers to draw their attention.
The other popular strategy that almost any renowned sports organization implements is selling merchandise. In this sense, the NBA is successful since its goods are being sold worldwide. The creators design merch for each team; the bestselling one so far is the Lakers. Specifically, it is conditioned by famous players such as James LeBron (Jin, 2021). People are ready to buy clothes and basketball-related items with the images or signatures of their favorite basketballers. Such a method is efficient in increasing annual sales and brand recognition.
What is more, the NBA is experimenting with the digital world. This means the company partners with many next-generation gaming corporations that create video games for NBA players. For example, 2K Games unveiled a new trailer for the NBA 2K 23 basketball arcade last autumn, showing an updated city (Jin, 2021). There was a subway in it so that players could easily travel between locations (Dick & Schwarz, 2020).
The promo video also showed several interesting thematic sites: lava and tropical. Every week, there will be events in the city, and players can meet at locations, customize avatars, and do other things. It has also entered the NFT platform, where users can trade basketball clips. The NBA strengthens customer loyalty by involving fans in the game and demonstrates its dedication to basketball.
Besides the chosen ways of attracting the audience, the company is involved in traditional marketing campaigns on television. It has advertisements all over American TV and issues new ads each season. Moreover, to follow the trends, the NBA penetrated YouTube (Jin, 2021). It launched its broadcasting channel where viewers could watch games live by paying an entrée fee (Mintzer, 2020). This way of promotion has gained much relevance, as not everyone can afford to attend a real game.
Sports betting has become another promotional area for the organization. DraftKings, an online sports betting platform, was acknowledged as the official betting operator of the NBA in 2019, as it provided access to official betting data given by the league. Such a way of advertising allows for gaining more profit as many individuals invest money in betting (Salaga et al., 2019). The NBA’s sales and promotions strategies are working since people keep creating fan accounts, attending games, and participating in initiatives. Globally, the company promotes basketball and impacts the industry by involving more people in watching the games.
Recommendations
It is difficult to recommend a boosting sales strategy for the NBA since it is a leading global sports organization that has reached immense success in establishing its brand. However, the NBA could concentrate on developing a virtual world as the world gets closer to digitalization. Virtual reality (VR) glasses are trending nowadays, and it is an efficient means of creating an online universe of the basketball world (Song et al., 2020).
In addition to appealing to more fans, the NBA can create a reviving gift calendar that can be given to partners and audiences. The augmented reality application is downloaded to one’s smartphone. If people look at each calendar sheet (month), the photo turns into a video that displays the players stating something important about a specific period.
With the help of AR and VR technologies, students can be effectively taught. One can perform complex operations without the risk of making a mistake. This signifies that in basketball schools and clubs, teens, and children can watch a specific movement via VR or an AR-equipped app and practice it (Jin, 2021). Customers can see in volume what is impossible to see. The company needs to clearly demonstrate how its technologies improve the educational process and motivate children to develop in sports.
Furthermore, it is suggested that a status system be introduced to increase customers’ loyalty. There are people who attend the games regularly, meaning that they are a devoted audience. For such visitors, the NBA can introduce a referral program; for instance, upon visiting several games, these individuals can be offered a discount or a free pass (Jin, 2021). Such a method aims to encourage people to attend as many games as possible to increase the venue’s recognizability.
In general, these recommendations are added to the ones employed by the NBA since the company has already begun implementing these as a means of promotion. This paper suggests directions for developing in the field of the digital world and customer loyalty. Considering the ongoing nature of technological advances and their influence on multiple industries, it should be a core part of the NBA’s development to achieve new financial heights (Salaga et al., 2019).
It will also contribute to the global sports industry in a way that famous organizations will look at the NBA as an organization developing at different levels (Jin, 2021). In addition, basketball clubs worldwide can buy VR glasses with educational training from famous players. All these improvements are expected to increase sales and take the brand to the next level.
Impact
Considering that marketing strategies are constantly evolving in digitalization, it can be said that the suggested ones are effective in achieving success in marketing. Primarily, the extensive use of technologies such as VR and AR guarantees much attention from the younger generation. Teens and young adults are major players in the NBA’s audience (Jin, 2021). Therefore, such innovations as virtual reality games will appeal to their taste. Specifically, it will impact marketing by posting new information on the media.
Undoubtedly, enrollment in the virtual and augmented reality world will attract investors ready to donate money for further development. By seeing posts on social media and in news sources, investors can see the potential of future projects (Song et al., 2020). It can also appeal to technological companies and developers aiming to boost the existing virtual reality.
Moreover, speaking of marketing, the chosen strategies will be beneficial as they will promote the NBA’s recognizability in such areas as gaming, which is currently trending. Besides these factors, customer loyalty will be guaranteed as new methods will be people-oriented (Song et al., 2020). Assuming the global trend towards orientation on the individual, the NBA can easily reach immense success by appealing to the audience’s interests. The organization should implement this plan because it will boost its revenue by selling new merchandise, such as games and educational programs, and attracting new customers with a new loyalty program.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the National Basketball Association has been marked as a sports organization with the highest sales due to a wise marketing strategy. Its players are known worldwide, and its ads have captured American television. Its fame owes to its well-elaborated marketing promotion that allowed the NBA to earn billions of dollars annually. Its primary technique is the involvement of celebrities who attend games, which attracts more visitors. In addition, the company sells merchandise that captivates fans with its uniqueness and creativity.
NBA’s presence in the digital world and the development of popular video games have boosted its promotion. Yet the company may penetrate virtual and augmented reality worlds to show its dedication to fans and technological advances. Moreover, the NBA’s introduction of referral programs can improve customer relationships. These approaches will likely take the company to the next level of revenue gain and promote it more efficiently. The suggested recommendations provide further directions in the specified fields and can be taken into consideration by the NBA’s marketing team.
References
Dick, R., & Schwarz, E. C. (2020). The perceived value of marketing techniques utilized by NBA marketing directors. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 14(1). Web.
Jin, Y. (2021). Analysis of NBA business strategy. Proceedings of the 2021 6th International Conference on Social Sciences and Economic Development (ICSSED 2021), 2352-5398. Web.
Mintzer, R. (2020). The NBA story: How the sports league slam-dunked its way into a global business powerhouse. HarperCollins Leadership.
NBA history. (n. d.). NBA. Web.
Salaga, S., Tainsky, S., & Mondello, M. (2019). Betting market outcomes and NBA television viewership. Journal of Sport Management, 34(2), 161-172. Web.
Song, K., Gao, Y., & Shi, J. (2020). Making real-time predictions for NBA basketball games by combining the historical data and bookmaker’s betting line. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications, 547, 124411. Web.