With the NBA Playoffs taking place at the moment, the league is now giving local fans the chance to experience the action up close, with NBA House officially set to debut at Melbourne’s The Timber Yard from 14-17 May.
This is all apart of the NBA’s new marketing plan to grow the the league’s presence on Australian soil.
After successful runs in Brazil, China and Mexico, the immersive fan experience is making its Australian bow with a four-day program designed to bring together basketball, culture, music and entertainment under one roof.
Leading the charge are two-time NBA All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Utah Jazz and four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, who are both slated to appear for exclusive VIP meet-and-greets across the weekend.
The sprawling 6000-square-metre venue will also host a packed daily schedule of Playoff watch parties, interactive experiences and live performances, with DJ Nino Brown kicking things off on 14 May, followed by Baker Boy on 15 May and Tye Turner on 17 May.
The idea is to give Aussies a taste of the real NBA experience, without having to spend thousands of dollars travelling to the United States to see it live.
“We have a really strong viewership base in Australia. But we have realised over the years that so many of our fans just won’t get to travel to the US to take in a game. Probably 99 per cent of our fans won’t get to travel. So how do we bring that fan experience closer to them?” said Rajah Chaudhry, head of strategy APAC for the NBA.
With basketball participation continuing to surge across Australia, the NBA sees the local market as a key growth market for the league internationally. In fact, according to AusPlay data, basketball ranks as the second-highest team participation sport in Australia, boasting approximately 1.3 million players nationwide.
According to Chaudhry, Australia’s booming youth participation rates and growing pipeline of NBA talent have made the country an increasingly important focus for the league.
“We really recognise the level of interest and participation in basketball, particularly at the youth level in Australia. It’s one of the most popular sports in Australia, particularly amongst six to 14 year olds,” he explained.
“And so there’s this huge groundswell of interest and support in basketball in Australia. It’s always been popular, but I’d say in the last 10-20 years, it’s gotten even more popular.”
That growth is also translating onto the NBA stage itself, with Australian representation in the league continuing to climb.
“We’ve got this amazing representation now of Australians in the NBA. If you look back 10-15 years ago, we always had representation, but it was intermittent. Whereas now it’s amazing, on opening night this year in the NBA we had 13 Aussies on playing rosters.”
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Chaudhry also explained the nation continues to perform strongly across several commercial metrics, including viewership, merchandise and retail sales.
“All those positive data points and reasons is why we’re very focused on Australia,” he added.
That focus intensified last year when the New Orleans Pelicans became the first NBA franchise to play games on Australian soil through a partnership with the National Basketball League.
“It was such a great success and after leaving Melbourne, we really felt that we wanted to continue to do more on the ground,” Chaudhry said.
“And so this is really the next stage of that. We feel like a fan event like NBA house allows people to connect with the NBA brand in a different way.”
To ensure fans are aware of the in-person experience, the NBA has rolled out an out-of-home campaign across Melbourne, including billboards and branded trams promoting NBA House.
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But doing the majority of the heavy lifting are the league’s digital and social channels, which have millions of viewers. The official NBA Instagram account has 88.8 million followers alone, and the Australian account has 147,000.
The NBA House isn’t just for the fans however. NBA have partners right here in Australia who are taking this opportunity to talk to their fans with two hands.
“We’ve got great partners in market in Australia: Amazon Prime, who we who’s a broadcast partner and is also a partner in NBA House; TAB, who’ll be partnering with us on NBA House; 2K, who will also be active in activating at the fan experience.”
Chaudhry didn’t lift the lid on what those activations will look like, but, he did promise an exclusive NBA store and “lots of interesting giveaways and other things to make sure the experience itself is exciting”.
Operated by Seeker Agency, NBA House Australia will also feature a 3-on-3 celebrity game; streetwear showcases; photo opportunities with the Larry O’Brien Trophy; and performances by Sacramento Kings mascot Slamson, the Kings Dancers and the Kings dunk team.
