HOW TO DOUBLE DOWN ON THE BASKETBALL AUDIENCE - Webflow
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HOW TO DOUBLE DOWN
ON THE BASKETBALL AUDIENCE
MAY 2021
How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
How to Double Down
on the Basketball Audience
Basketball has always been one of the most accessible sports for fans. It capitalizes on a key feature
that separates it from other sports - the players themselves and the audience’s ability to see them:
no helmets, no hats, up-close and personal. In recent years, fandom has gone beyond wearing a
jersey. Fans make consumer decisions based on their favourite player’s brands, affinities and social
opinions.
Fans are now able to get closer to the athletes more than ever before. In an age where the
audience’s attention span sets the terms, Basketball has been dominating television audiences, live
crowds - and perhaps most importantly; the internet.
Forward thinking commissioners have enabled players to become more than just athletes. Fans
follow their every move, on and off the court – they are personalities that regular people look to for
inspiration and conversation.
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How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
@NBA
33.3M Followers
@NFL
26.7M Followers
@MLB
8.9M Followers
If we’re comparing leagues
As of 2019 (because let’s face it, 2020 is a write off) the NFL was listed as the
most profitable sport in the world, followed directly by MLB, but in a close
third place – is the NBA.
But, when you look at the followers each league has on Twitter
The NBA has 33.3 million, the NFL’s 26.7 million, and MLB’s 8.9 million
followers.
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Around the World
This is a global audience. The NBA is becoming exponentially more diverse, with players from around
the globe. In the NBA - 2019’s MVP was from Greece, Rookie of the Year was from Slovenia, Defensive
Player of the Year from France, and the Most Improved Player from Cameroon. The audience has
grown along with the players – with substantial fanbases in the Philippines, Brazil, The UK, Nigeria,
Indonesia, France, Mexico and Spain.
Careful league management has grown basketball’s popularity outside of the US exponentially over the
last decade. Rapid increases in international gameplay and player development, a focus on athletes as
individuals and brazen approaches to tough topics has harnessed the attention of it’s growing
audience.
Perhaps most impressive is the reach that the individual athletes have into
every aspect of modern culture. Something that may be more valuable
than immediate league revenue: the audience’s attention.
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How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Discover the Keyholders
of Culture
Players themselves are amongst the most powerful cultural icons of the 21st Century. From fashion,
music, technology to finance - they are the tastemakers of our day. Perhaps most importantly - they
are at the forefront of social change.
One of the most commonly used hashtags amongst player profiles and the profiles they follow is
#ad. At first glance, this shows the incredible amount of sponsorship and endorsements. But these
athletes are beyond posing for a Wheaties box - these are personalities that are posting with
transparency, the key to building authentic relationships with audiences.
More than ever before, individual athletes are being recognized as a brand - and nowhere more than
basketball. The fanbase is picking up on trends and taking action. They are listening to what
basketball players are listening to, they are buying what the athletes are wearing, supporting the
social justice initiatives that athletes are identifying, and more.
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How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Find Basketball’s
Reach Into Fashion
As a response to former dress code requirements athletes transformed arena entrances into
catwalks for fashion. Ballers are now synonymous with fashion, becoming tastemakers, icons and
designers along the way. Athletes are no longer just interacting with the brands that sponsor
or endorse them – they are doing business with direct to consumer brands,some are even
investors. Sneaker brands, for instance, continue to create shoes and brands with athletes – but
none more than Basketball players. Basketball Sneakers are so coveted,
they auction in the hundreds of thousands, sell out rapidly
and have built a cult following of collectors.
Take the example of Filling Pieces, a brand from Amsterdam
specifically aimed to the audience between high fashion and
streetwear. When Chris Paul was seen wearing the brand
getting off a plane, orders for the specific tracksuit he was
wearing quadrupled, and traffic to the site was up over 100%
over the next two weeks.
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How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Find Basketball’s Reach
Into Fashion
In one of Chris Paul’s most recent Instagram posts, he wore a different tracksuit – this time a tie-
dyed number with the words #MAMBACITA emblazoned across the front. The clothing line is in
memory of the late Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, and raises funds for charitable sports
endeavours for underserved athletes. Other basketball players were also seen wearing the tracksuit,
like Anthony Davis, Steph Curry, Devon Booker, Allen Iverson and others. The brand sold out in less
than a day.
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How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
The top athletes are working with stylists to ensure that every entry into the arena, and every
press conference after are or fashion forward. Sneakers have built a cult-like following,
and have become a status symbol among the wealthy and average alike. The basketball
audience wants to “Be like Mike” and who can blame them?
Nike x NBA Nike x WNBA
2.2M profiles 66.6K profiles
that follow the NBA that follow the WNBA
also follow @Nike also follow @Nike
1.3M profiles 635K Tweets
follows a basketball team #fashion from our basketball audience
and a fashion label. using the #fashion
8
How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Know the Right Music
There is no greater interdependent relationship in pop culture than between basketball and hip-hop.
For decades, basketball players have even tried their hand in the rap game. Shaq, to Kobe, Lebron
James, Kevin Durant and Lonzo Ball all have tracks and the results have been… well, it’s a good thing
they can ball. The top players are consistently referenced on tracks across all genres of hip-hop,
holding high praise for specific plays and all-out talent.
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The mutual admiration flows both ways, and the players can’t go without their music. The league has
gone so far as to dub DJ’s as “essential workers” during the covid lockdown seasons. Music is
crucial to the in-game experience, not just for fans but for players too.
One of the most used hashtags amongst people that follow an NBA team or player is #soundcloud.
The launch of almost every direct to consumer product related to or coming from basketball has
advertising featuring hip-hop tracks, culture and musicians. It’s one of the most predominant ways to
get in front of the basketball audience.
10 Basketball Industry Report • May 2021How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Anyone that has attended a live basketball game knows it’s an
immersive experience. Music sets the tone throughout, from
entrances to post-shot-player-specific shoutouts. Top ballers
are engaging with rappers and musicians on social media, and
fans are dialed in – waiting for the next single to drop.
Over 175 thousand tweets
using #hiphop.
Number 2 hashtag from profiles
following players is #Soundcloud
Fourth most used bio
keyword is “MUSIC”.
Profiles that follow one of the
30 most followed NBA players also follow
@LilNasX
@KanyeWest 1.1M Mutual Followers
10.8M Mutual Followers @Drake
16.4M Mutual Followers
11 Basketball Industry Report • May 2021How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Determine the Financial
Trends That Resonate
Brands see the basketball audience as one of the most lucrative markets for their
goods and services. What often isn't discussed is that the NBA and its players are
on the cutting edge of financial trends, from investments to crypto- much more
than other sports or leagues.
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks
announced that the team will be accepting
DOGE coin for tickets and team merchandise
moving forward. This isn’t even the first time
an NBA franchise has accepted crypto
currency, basketball is not only identifying but
legitimizing trends by accepting dogecoin.
Chris Paul - the National Basketball Players
Association President, encouraged players to look
at the time away from the sport during covid-19 as
“an opportunity to get stronger in however way
you see fit. If financial literacy is one of them, which
I think that is for a lot of us, then dive in.”
12 Basketball Industry Report • May 2021Basketball players have become serious investors, but it's more than being
investors, it's about being investors in spaces that are breaking new
ground in all kinds of ways – consumer products, fintech, SaaS, etc.
We don’t have to look further than our own investors to find them. It’s
beyond just being financially literate at this point, it’s realization of
opportunities for these athletes.
Derrick Favors of the Utah Jazz invests in Trufan. Thad Young opened
Reform Ventures, investing in SpaceX, AirBnB and is also invested in
Trufan. Kyle Kuzma is a venture capitalist invested in a vegan sports
beverage, and invests in – you guessed it, Trufan.
The basketball industry tends to be early adopters and innovators. Basketball players announce,
engage and discuss financial trends on social media more than any other sport. It’s become a
healthy expression of the wealth that is generated from the game, and audiences track the trends
in order to try up their own financial game.
Cashtags used were for
$APPL $BTC $GME $ETH $TSLA
Profiles that follow one of the 30 most followed
NBA players also follow
@CathieDWood
@Chamath 119K Mutual Followers
295K Mutual Followers @WarrenBuffett
300K Mutual Followers
300k (1,835 verified)
follows a basketball team and follows a major bank.
13How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Learn the Tech
that Brings Audiences Closer
Basketball embraces tech to improve the game, and technology from any industry skyrockets when
exposed to the basketball audience. Recently, tracking data from digital health devices kept the
NBA going throughout the difficulties surrounding covid-19, and the season that followed. Players
and their families were tested for oxygen levels and temperatures everyday day - with the data
being gathered by the league.
NFT’s took one step further with blockchain technology being applied to NBA trading
cards of still and video from around the league, NBA TopShot. The platform was the first
of its kind- it brought cryptocurrency to the forefront of news coverage, with some
highlights being sold well into the six-figures.
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With fans unable to attend games in person
(we don't need to remind you why), the NBA used
amazing innovations to keep up the atmosphere
and energy of a live game experience better than
any other sport.
The basketball audience is heavily engaged with technology. Players interact and engage with tech
brands and tech moguls on social media, and the league’s management leverages it to improve the
game. Fans are interacting in ways like never before, and are using technology to do so.
345k followers of an NBA team
tech have posted using the word “tech”.
Profiles that follow an NBA team also follow
@Apple
@Microsoft 557K Mutual Followers
811K Mutual Followers @Google
1.8M Mutual Followers
349k (2,908 verified)
follows a basketball team and follows The Verge.
15 Basketball Industry Report • May 2021How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Realize Social Shifts,
and Their Impacts
Perhaps the biggest impact basketball has on culture is in regards to societal shifts. Project Backboard
is a perfect example of how basketball can be the conduit for positive change to society,
strengthening communities. They have teamed up with a myriad of sponsors to transform dozens of
courts across the US from run down, broken concrete pads to colourful, vibrate and safe play spaces.
The NBA’s response to the league’s first positive C-19 test;
setting aside economic consequences to cancel a game
shortly before tip-off. As the first league to suspend the
season, and may have marked the point for the rest of the
world to take covid seriously.
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Former WNBA player-turned-head coaching staff
Becky Hammon was given the nod to take over to lead
the Spurs. While it may have been mid-game and due
to Gregg Popovich being ejected, it is the next step in
what has been a progressive series of events. Women
are becoming more prevalent in coaching roles in the
NBA, refereeing positions, and commentators.
In support of the BlackLivesMatter movement, the WNBA and the NBA have both
made efforts to use their voices to further the cause. They’ve painted BLACK LIVES
MATTER across their courts. They’ve changed their jerseys. Players have been
outspoken about social justice, and their audience is right there with them.
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The rise of social justice, demand for equality, and awareness of racial issues in
America has never been more prevalent, and there is no louder voice in professional
sports than Basketball. Athletes are active on social media and proudly displaying
their objectives in the game, and their fans are following suit.
#BLM #BlackLivesMatter #BlackHistoryMonth
Among the top hashtags from the NBA audience is #BLM
#BlackLivesMatter #BlackHistoryMonth and others.
#BlackHistoryMonth #InternationalWomensDay
#WomensHistoryMonth #StopAsianHate
4 of the top 6 hashtags used by the WNBA verified audience are #BlackHistoryMonth
#InternationalWomensDay #WomensHistoryMonth and #StopAsianHate
Profiles that follow one of the
Top 30 most followed NBA players also follow
NAACP
Amnesty International 155K Mutual Followers
177K Mutual Followers Colin Kaepernick
944K Mutual Followers
18 Basketball Industry Report • May 2021How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Understand the Fans
The NBA audience makes up one of the largest, WNBA fans are very similar to the NBA audience
most diverse global fan bases in sports today. – in fact, a quarter of a million profiles follow an
They maintain a large core of actors, singers and NBA team and a WNBA team. They are global
celebrities that engage and inspire fans to follow and diverse, but the key difference is the make-
teams, players and active trends across up of their followership. They have a substantial
platforms with a valuable activity rate. following of NBA players and politicians, but lack
severely in the celebrity department. One of the
most interesting things to note is that the WNBA
audience is twice as active as the NBA audience.
Combined Followers
30 Teams in the US and Canada 12 Teams across the US
33.8M
Total followers for Total followers for
all 30 NBA teams all 30 NBA teams
38.3K 142K+
of Total Followers follows all 30 of Total Followers follows all 12
are verified NBA teams are verified WNBA teams
19How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
NBA Combined Followers WNBA
31% 68%
Female Male Female Male
15% tweeted
within the last 30 days within the last 30 days
NBA Followers by Country WNBA
America leads the followership of the top 30 Canada is number two for followers of the
players in the NBA, but the Philippines and WNBA with the UK very close behind.
India are numbers two and three. Followed Substantial followers in Brazil, Philippines,
by Brazil, the UK and then Canada - so much Australia, India and Mexico
for that Championship run…
NBA Top Followers WNBA
A large majority of the top 100 followers are 61 of the top 100 followers are Athletes,
celebrities, singers and actors. Teams or Sports Broadcasters, and amongst
the rest are a large number of politicians.
20 Basketball Industry Report • May 2021How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
NBA Hashtags and other info WNBA
#Soundcloud #NBAFinals
2nd most used hashtag by 2nd most used hashtag.
followers of the top 30 players.
#Periscope
A whopping 88k posts include
#Periscope - guess it was popular?
Women’s National Soccer
is a major overlap with the WNBA.
#blackhistorymonth #womenshistorymonth
#internationalwomensday
#stopasianhate #blacklivesmatter
Of the top ten hashtag usages amongst fans follow an NBA team
the verified followers highlights the above and a WNBA team.
NBA and WNBA: Understanding the Fans
21How to Double Down on the Basketball Audience
Tap into the Next
= THE WNBA
Wave of Trendsetters
The WNBA may be the least covered trendsetters
in social media today. Until recently, the WNBA
players saw inequality beyond average contract
salaries and television viewership.
During the 2019 playoffs, the WNBA saw a 27%
increase in viewership, followed by a 15% rise in
2020. They’ve negotiated new contracts, allowing
players to earn significantly more – slowly
bridging the gap in pay inequality.
The WNBA is increasing in audience, and
influence. The current overlap between the NBA
and WNBA fanbase is significant; pointing
towards mutual growth. The current fanbase is
largely athletic, and political – and there is plenty
of room to grow an authentic fanbase. With
players taking a stance in social justice issues, it’s
happening quickly.
The players are making waves, using their platform to amplify their
voices. “WNBA players are among the first athletes to wear warm-
up shirts with social justice messaging affirming Black Lives Matter,
hold media blackouts and even kneel during the national anthem.” ~
Washington Post. In truth, the WNBA has been taking political
stances even before Colin Kaepernick took a knee.
These athletes have been building up a reputation of integrity,
incredible game play and captivating content on and off the court.
Players like Sue Bird and her partner Megan Rapinoe who capture
the minds of the general public as the first gay couple to grace the
cover of Sports Illustrated, two years later she became one of three
players to win a championship in three different decades, joining
Tim Duncan and John Salley.
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In summary...
For marketers, it means that the basketball audience for the WNBA will be directly in line with the
values associated with specific players, and teams. If you consider the NBA as an attractive
audience to reach your customers, double down on the WNBA - because they are increasing in
influence.
NBA players are granted a platform to create incredible influence into all aspects of popular culture
via the already enormous fanbase. When the WNBA’s fan base grows to a similar size, which we
predict to be inevitable, their influence into culture will be just as impactful.
The WNBA is a massive opportunity market for brands. By aligning with the audience’s clearly
defined values, the untapped potential is invaluable. Even more appealing is the opportunity to be
collaborative with the league, as the rise of women’s basketball is inevitable – and probably
meteoric.
We used Trufan to derive the insights from this report. We compiled over
100 Million Twitter profiles to represent the larger basketball community.
Fans who follow leagues, athletes, analysts and brands.
+100 million profiles
• +91 thousand verified profiles
• Across 3 folders, WNBA Teams / NBA Teams / Top 30 NBA Players
• Average of 35% female and 65% male
If you are interested in diving into your own audience insights or creating
your own industry report, click here to set up a demo.
23 Basketball Industry Report • May 2021Audience Powered Intelligence for Brands,
Agencies, Creators, E-Commerce
Learn more at Trufan.io
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