NBA Gameball Give-away on Instagram

[Axel]

Did anyone else see the contest on Instagram the other day when the NBA announced their new game balls complete with the @NBA handle?

The contest was simple, comment on why you love the NBA.

Well I'm happy to say that I was one of the 5 winners and the NBA will be mailing me a new Spaulding official game ball.

The reason for this post (besides sharing my excitement with fellow hoop fans ~ my wife was much less enthusiastic) is IMO the NBA and NBA teams seem to be way ahead of the other sports in terms of fan access through social media.

[Joey]

Did anyone else see the contest on Instagram the other day when the NBA announced their new game balls complete with the @NBA handle?

The contest was simple, comment on why you love the NBA.

Well I'm happy to say that I was one of the 5 winners and the NBA will be mailing me a new Spaulding official game ball.

The reason for this post (besides sharing my excitement with fellow hoop fans ~ my wife was much less enthusiastic) is IMO the NBA and NBA teams seem to be way ahead of the other sports in terms of fan access through social media.

I believe at 600,000,000 Likes and Followers, the NBA has one of the Largest Social Media Communities in the World. And not just among Pro Sports.

And congrats on the ball man, thats really cool!

[Joey]

Interesting article on it actually:

Recipe for Success: How the NBA Plans to Expand One of the Largest Social Media Communities in the World
The NBA All-Star Tech Summit, which accompanies the All-Star game in respective cities each year, was host to some of the biggest names in basketball and technology last month in New Orleans.

Home to one of the largest social media communities in the world, the NBA along with industry leaders in both fields, assembled to discuss the future of the two and how basketball can keep up with technology and vice versa.

Speakers and panelists included Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Turner Sports analyst Charles Barkley, retired player turned powerful businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media (and sister to well-known Mark Zuckerberg) Randi Zuckerberg, local owner and vice chairman of the board for the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans, Rita Benson LeBlanc, Mark Cuban, Chairman of AXS TV and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and co-founder and CEO of Instagram Kevin Systrom.

There was also a slew of hosts and moderators including: Ahmad Rashad, host and executive producer, One on One with Ahmad Rashad on NBA TV; Wolf Blitzer, anchor, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on CNN; Candy Crowley, anchor, State of the Union with Candy Crowley on CNN; Ernie Johnson, studio host at Turner Sports; John King, anchor, Inside Politics on CNN; and Sage Steele, host of NBA Countdown on ABC and ESPN.

The 15th annual, invitation-only event provided an opportunity for industry leaders to engage in a series of conversations about the future of sports, media and technology. This year’s theme was “The World is Courtside,” and featured sessions focusing on fan experience and the increasingly mobile world of sports.

The focus is on mobile NBA and bringing the most watched sport into the palm of your hand (and on every other screen available). The organization has over 500 million followers and likes combined across all league, team, and player pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others.

At the time of the last Tech Summit held in New Orleans, six years ago in 2008, the online NBA community was not nearly as large.

One key to the success is the marriage of content and commerce or, rather, distributing extraordinary content to fans worldwide in real time. A few of the questions that the industry leaders and NBA asked were:

-Mobile no longer refers only to handheld devices; it is evolving to include an ever-growing ecosystem of connected products. As the world “goes mobile,” how do leading organizations adapt and succeed?

-With more basketball statistics available in real time and across multiple devices, how can players, coaches, and fans use this data to learn more about the game?

-Consumers are increasingly demanding premium content for free. How do content creators, media distributors and advertisers balance consumer desire and business growth?


Given that consumers are engaging with many devices simultaneously while watching TV, how can we provide a connected experience across all of these platforms? about the game?

The NBA will expand its enormous online community of fans and basketball and tech lovers by finding a happy medium between encouraging live-streaming and viewing a game in person in addition to keeping all engaged and ahead of the curve by providing telling stats about players and the game.

Now with smartphones and stats, technology and television, and an evolving world of basketball, there’s no telling what next year’s Tech Summit will explore.

Mayer closed out the summit by talking about Yahoo’s strategic pivot to be “mobile first” and how it might be one of the company’s most untapped markets.
Source

Its smart business. Reach the markets that you might not otherwise get to.

[Axel]

Solid find Joey. Much more definitive than my "I won a ball".

I follow the NFL closely as well, and I think teams are so much trying to guard their secrets, so teams post very little. The NFL itself, mostly posts headlines that you'd find on the NFL network (top 100 players, countdown to kickoff, training camp pics). I wonder if the NBA nature of no secrets is a part of it. With the Vu player tracker, anyone can find out more information about other NBA players and teams, then I think most NFL teams can scout for themselves. The NBA transparency and accessibility is great and should help grow the league, especially in the younger demographic.

[Axel]

So a follow up to this, none of the 5 winners have received their prize yet. 16 weeks after providing a mailing address, not a single winner has received their game ball or any communication from the league.

So this morning, I went to the NBA website and sent in an email hoping to reach the marketing department that overseas promotions such as this one.

Will keep posting on here but I am really frustrated. As a fan in Nova Scotia, it is really hard to get quality NBA or Raptors gear in store, so the chance to add an official game ball was very exciting (it would have looked great next to my Hall of Fame ball I bought a few years ago in Springfield).

[iblastoff]

So a follow up to this, none of the 5 winners have received their prize yet. 16 weeks after providing a mailing address, not a single winner has received their game ball or any communication from the league.

So this morning, I went to the NBA website and sent in an email hoping to reach the marketing department that overseas promotions such as this one.

Will keep posting on here but I am really frustrated. As a fan in Nova Scotia, it is really hard to get quality NBA or Raptors gear in store, so the chance to add an official game ball was very exciting (it would have looked great next to my Hall of Fame ball I bought a few years ago in Springfield).

congrats!

and make your own gear! i did



(i like keeping my wardrobe minimally styled. unfortunately most sports apparel looks like neon splattered craziness)

[Axel]

So I received a response from my email to the NBA. Here is what they said

"Thank you for contacting the National Basketball Association. We sincerely regret the long delay in response time following the Instagram contest. Our fans are our top priority and we apologize for not responding to you sooner. Please be advised that the basketballs will be available soon and someone from the league will be contacting you in the coming weeks.

Thank you again for writing us and for your interest in the NBA.

Sincerely,
-----
NBA Fan Relations"

About a two week response time which is pretty good considering I emailed a genetic NBA Business address that probably went through several filters before landing on the right desk.

[Cody73]

So I received a response from my email to the NBA. Here is what they said

"Thank you for contacting the National Basketball Association. We sincerely regret the long delay in response time following the Instagram contest. Our fans are our top priority and we apologize for not responding to you sooner. Please be advised that the basketballs will be available soon and someone from the league will be contacting you in the coming weeks.

Thank you again for writing us and for your interest in the NBA.

Sincerely,
-----
NBA Fan Relations"

About a two week response time which is pretty good considering I emailed a genetic NBA Business address that probably went through several filters before landing on the right desk.

Now lets hope you get the ball.

[Axel]

Now lets hope you get the ball.

I made sure to make sure they know I'm a Raptors fan too, so hopefully they can throw in some Raps stickers or something for my daughter.

[e_wheazhy_]

I made sure to make sure they know I'm a Raptors fan too, so hopefully they can throw in some Raps stickers or something for my daughter.

Lol big mistake. Now that they know you're a raptors fan youre probably gonna receive your ball in 6 years. That's if you don't get called for an offensive foul first.