The NBA loves a good crossover, on the court or off. After the initial positive reviews on the Marvel broadcast it’s no surprise that Adam Silver and the NBA would continue using other pop culture to try and reach a new audience. The next installment is coming just in time for the playoffs and it’s with the game that has made “freemium” the biggest trend in video games: Fortnite.
The Fortnite x NBA crossover event takes place between May 19th and 23rd, and users can win a variety of in-game rewards and V-bucks. The first 550,000 registrants can sign up as a fan and represent their favorite NBA team.
The NBA has been having a ratings crisis for years now, but the latest drop in viewership on the ABC broadcasts has raised the panic level much higher behind the scenes. With the almost limitless amount of options of things to catch our interest these days, basketball is trying to get ahead of the curve by inserting itself into the cultural circles dominated by animation and fantasy that captures the attention of that 6-18 range with things such as the Marvel and Fortnite crossovers.
It makes great business sense and is yet another example of the NBA trying to be proactive at addressing problems, which shows the promise for the league’s growth going forward. With things starting to get back to normal in the world I’m excited to see what new ideas Adam Silver and company have in store to try and build the brand that is the NBA to the younger audience that currently is not tuned in.
The league has so many compelling figures today that it’s really just about getting the highlights in front of the potential fans to show them what they are missing. We applaud their efforts and continued experimentation in finding out how to get the next generation’s attention.
Trey Hill
Podcast host over at Charity Stripe Commentary, scouring NBA Twitter content over on @finalfinally, and of course writing for HoopSocial!