{"id":470390,"date":"2026-02-12T15:03:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470390\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:03:07","slug":"amid-super-bowl-and-olympic-season-some-brands-go-all-in-on-nba-all-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470390\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid Super Bowl and Olympic season, some brands go all in on NBA All-Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some NBA fans may be less than thrilled with the league\u2019s All-Star Game in recent years, but even though viewership has been trending downward<\/a>, brand presence seems to be heading in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

There will be more than 60 brands activating at this year\u2019s All-Star Weekend at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, which is among the highest number of sponsors the event has ever seen, if not a record, according to Lauren Sullivan, SVP and head of partner management at the NBA. All-Star Weekend has been beloved by brands for years: In 2024, marketers described it<\/a> as the \u201ccrown jewel\u201d and \u201cthe Super Bowl of the NBA.\u201d There was no shortage of sponsors last year<\/a>, either.<\/p>\n

With so much competition for fans\u2019 attention on the ground, never mind the viewership battle with the Winter Olympics<\/a>, this year\u2019s All-Star brands are tapping into tried-and-true sports sponsorship strategies like player partnerships, fashion collabs, and community-oriented activations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brands who really embrace what is unique to them as a brand and their unique offering to fans are the ones that people remember,\u201d Sullivan told Marketing Brew.<\/p>\n

Kings of the court<\/p>\n

Many of this year\u2019s All-Stars are likely looking at jam-packed schedules for the next few days, and not only in terms of their on-court activities:<\/p>\n

Foot Locker is hosting a multi-day experience featuring sneaker drops and other content, with Jayson Tatum and Lonzo Ball set to appear;American Express, which recently renewed its NBA sponsorship, is offering cardholders the opportunity to meet Norman Powell and Stephon Castle;AT&T\u2019s \u201cDunk District\u201d pop-up in Venice Beach will feature NBA legends Chris Paul, Baron Davis, and Jason Terry;And Spotify tapped Cade Cunningham to help lead its All-RapCaviar event based on the brand\u2019s popular RapCaviar playlist and franchise.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that \u201cauthenticity\u201d has become something of a buzzword in sports sponsorships, and it\u2019s something brands are striving for all weekend long. To achieve it, Sullivan said some marketers are embracing the \u201coff-the-court interests\u201d of player partners.<\/p>\n

Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has worked with AT&T in the past, is known for his style<\/a>, and AT&T plans to spotlight his ties to fashion with an experience that includes plenty of merch. Spotify recruited Cunningham because \u201che\u2019s deeply embedded in hip-hop culture,\u201d Carl Chery, creative director and head of urban music at Spotify, told us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been strategic with engaging RapCaviar\u2019s audience through adjacent cultures they care about, like fashion, gaming, and, of course, basketball,\u201d Chery said in an email. \u201cWorking with Cade will give us visibility in a world where we have less of a footprint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some brands have preexisting relationships with players prior to ASW, and others can connect with players via the league. This year, a handful of marketers are also activating via the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), which is putting on a three-day \u201cmembers-only pop-up\u201d called Plyrs House, with experiences largely created for and by the athletes, according to Keisha Wright, the NBPA\u2019s SVP of brand partnerships.<\/p>\n

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The PA is selective about the brands it chooses to work with, she said; NBA 2K, Canyon Ranch, Maker\u2019s Mark, and Crowned Skin are among the companies that will have a presence at Plyrs House this year. While partnering with the PA represents a more targeted marketing approach, it could help brands earn \u201cthe true influence and credibility of players,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brands that want to associate with us are looking for that culture, that community, the credibility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Style stars<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no talking about basketball without fashion, and this weekend, it\u2019ll be a major component of several brands\u2019 activations:<\/p>\n

The Foot Locker Takeover includes shoe displays drops from companies including Nike, Jordan Brand, and Converse.Amex and Fanatics are setting up a \u201cReal Vintage Vault\u201d in Venice, where fans can buy vintage NBA gear like jackets, sweatshirts, and t-shirts.AT&T\u2019s collab with Gilgeous-Alexander features totes, phone cases, t-shirts, and skate decks designed by local artists, as well as limited-edition t-shirts designed by Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander, Shai\u2019s brother.Spotify is offering custom jerseys to fans at its event.<\/p>\n

Slam, a basketball media and commerce company, is leaning into its LeagueFits fashion vertical at ASW, Head of Integrated Marketing Joshua Frohlinger said. The property lends itself to activations and tends to draw a lot of partnership interest year-round, he said.<\/p>\n

This year, Slam is teaming up with Sephora<\/a>, True Religion, and sneaker brand And1 for All-Star events, and leveraging long-term relationships with players to help with the goal of \u201cauthentically showing up in the right places [and] making noise,\u201d Frohlinger told us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of players on LeagueFits that move the needle who aren\u2019t necessarily NBA starters,\u201d he said. \u201cThere will be a player on LeagueFits that gets more engagement than an All-Star-level player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local love<\/p>\n

Since ASW moves around each year, there are opportunities for the league and its sponsors to engage with the local community. NBA Crossover, the league\u2019s All-Star fan experience, helps make the event accessible to more fans in the area, Sullivan said, and some brands add charitable components to their campaigns to give back to the community.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the NBA is partnering with Evernorth Health Services for the second annual NBA Total Health All-Star Walk, where Evernorth is offering free services like skin-cancer screenings.State Farm, the official sponsor of the 3-point contest, will donating $15,000 to Habitat for Humanity for every \u201cDeep Shot\u201d scored during the event.The NBPA and NBA 2K are partnering with GoFundMe to help amplify the fundraising efforts of their charity 2v2 tournament, Wright said.<\/p>\n

While tactics like player collabs, merch drops, and charitable events are well-loved each year, Sullivan said there\u2019s sure to be some unexpected activations as well, perhaps from new NBA partners like Xfinity and CeraVe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always one or two partners that will pop up new and start to figure out how to unlock that fanbase to really get their brand top of mind,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some NBA fans may be less than thrilled with the league\u2019s All-Star Game in recent years, but even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-470390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}