Where Amazing [Marketing] Happens: An Analysis of the NBA’s Marketing Strategy

As an avid sports fan, the NBA has fascinated me with its large, diverse fan base. As a result, I will analyze the NBA’s marketing strategy so that I can better understand the league’s long-term success. Since the appointment of David Stern as NBA Commissioner in 1984, the NBA has seen tremendous growth in popularity. While I do acknowledge the NBA has somewhat stagnated in North American growth, the league continues to expand in other key markets, such as China, Latin America, and Great Britain. Thus, I would like to learn more about how the NBA has successfully marketed itself to maintain its status as a leading entertainment option.

Specifically, I would like to focus on how the NBA uses the four p’s of marketing to create its success. By examining the four p’s, I will be able to gain insight into ticket pricing (price), nba franchising (place), promotion development (promotion), and experiential marketing (product). Moreover, for the product aspect of the 4 p’s, I will be focusing extensively on experiential marketing rather than pure product marketing. Based on my experience in the sports industry, marketing sports does not focus on the benefits of the game itself; instead, sport marketing requires a focus on the sports experience.


While I performed preliminary research, a few questions came to mind.

1. What differentiates the marketing strategy of the NBA from other failed
professional American sports leagues?
2. How does the NBA market itself compared to international basketball leagues?
3. How has the NBA adapted its marketing strategy to a changing audience?
4. Does the NBA’s marketing strategy change due to the economic recession?
5. What does the NBA do to shape its image through marketing?
6. Who is really the NBA’s target market? Demographics? Psychographics?


After completing preliminary research, I’m excited about learning more about this topic. This topic excites me because I aim to work in the sports industry. In particular, I want to work in the league office headquarters for the NBA in New York City. By researching the NBA’s marketing strategy, I feel like I will be better prepared to make a smoother transition into my dream job. Despite my interest, I am slightly concerned that it will be difficult to find articles specifically related to the NBA’s marketing strategy. I may be forced to search for references to the NBA’s marketing strategy within other articles.

If I am able to find enough relevant information, I feel like this analysis will allow me to better understand many Customer Insight topics. Specifically, it will give me a better understanding of experiential marketing because of the way sports are marketed. Also, I will learn how the NBA segments its target customers so that it can most effectively market to its large fan base. Additionally, I will gain insight into the type of customer I, as a sports marketer, will encounter in my future. Lastly, I will gain insight into how consumers make purchasing decisions. Specifically, how they choose to spend their time and money in one entertainment option—the NBA—over competing entertainment options.

In relation to segmentation, I found an article titled “Walk This Way” by ESPN the magazine writer Chris Broussard. The article discusses how the NBA cringed at the thought of players wearing skull caps and baggy shorts because of its association to the “streets.” Now, the NBA has learned to embrace its connection to hip-hop because of how mainstream hip-hip culture has become part of modern America. Since the hip-hop culture is now entrenched in modern America, the NBA risked detachment from its young (generation y) fans if it did not embrace this new culture. Therefore, the NBA now has a bigger connection to hip-hop culture than ever before.

Based on this article, I was able to gain insight into how the NBA markets to a particular segment. This article focuses on how the NBA is using hip-hop music to reach the younger generation of basketball fans. For example, the NBA now allows hip-hop music to be loudly blasted in all NBA arenas so long as the content is appropriate. While the young generation is not the NBA’s only fan base, this articles shows how the NBA adapts its experience to a particular segment. Upon further development of my top paper, I would like better understand other segments the NBA targets and how they adapt their marketing programs to that segment.