What if they held an NBA All-Star Game and no sponsor could activate? That’s not quite the case with Sunday’s game in Atlanta, but with COVID-19 restrictions and the unfamiliar nature of what’s normally three or four days of events packed into one evening, much of the sponsor activation will center on raising money for two principal causes: HBCUs and COVID relief.
The league and the NBPA will donate more than $2.5 million in what it termed “funds and resources” to HBCUs, along with COVID-19 care, relief and vaccines. HBCU musical groups are also scheduled to perform. Beneficiaries will include the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the United Negro College Fund, the National Association for Equal Opportunity, and Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity.
“Obviously, engagement with so many of our partners has changed,” said Kerry Tatlock, senior vice president and head of marketing partnerships at the league. “Once we unified around the theme of benefiting HBCUs and COVID relief, we got focused, and partners have rallied.” Neither Tatlock, nor any NBA sponsors, will be hosted at the event. “Not having local activations was important, because of health and safety protocols,” she said.
NBA, PepsiCo renew sponsorship deal
The NBA is using its All-Star Game this Sunday as a launching pad for the renewal of its PepsiCo corporate sponsorship. It’s another five-year deal covering marketing rights for salty snacks and soft drinks, but this time with a bonus. Pepsi will now try to own one of the NBA’s most visible assets — the 3-point shot, which now accounts for around 40% of all NBA field goal attempts.
“Two fundamental principles with our partnerships are ownership and influence,” said Justin Toman, head of sports marketing at PepsiCo. “Just as we now think we own the [Super Bowl] Halftime Show, we want to own the [ASG] 3-point contest and more broadly, as a platform across the NBA and WNBA.” Pepsi’s 3-point platform is still being built, but it will include digital and social content, charitable links and possibly product ties.
“There’s a lot of runaway for creativity there,” said Toman. “We’ve learned a lot after five years, and we still think the NBA is one of the best places to be across sports."
Like the Super Bowl, this year’s skills contests and All-Star Game will be packed into an extended block of TV programming. Starting at 5 p.m. ET Sunday, some six consecutive hours on TNT will include the skills contests, the game itself and the AT&T-sponsored dunk contest at halftime, along with postgame activities.
Without the normal amount of planning time, along with COVID restrictions, sponsors were unable to get the usual amount of retail activations and other promotions launched. PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew brand will again sponsor the 3-point shooting contest, while its Ruffles brand will back the celebrity game and debut a TV ad with Anthony Davis and T-Pain.
“It’s an unusual year, we usually plan for this over six months; this time it was less than a month,” said Justin Toman, head of sports marketing at PepsiCo. “Still, it’s a great celebration and a connection of sports and music, which is a place we like to be.”
Editor’s note: This story is revised from the print edition.
