I’m definitely not in the camp that think the NBA lockout is irrelevant to most fans. I just think it’s really really hard to get riled up about the possible loss of a sport BEFORE you would actually begin to watch. Obviously, the NFL is a little different because it has managed to ingrain itself so much into our daily lives via fantasy football, holiday showings, watch parties etc etc that even the first day of the NFL lockout inspired some panic.
But just cause football has become a religion of sorts doesn’t mean nobody cares about the NBA. It just means nobody cares…yet. Including advertisers.
“Advertisers are somewhat concerned, but it’s much easier to plan around the lack of an NBA schedule than the lack of an NFL schedule,” said GroupM chief investment officer Rino Scanzoni. “Those viewers can be recaptured in other programs.”
November’s games have already been lost, but ad spending on the NBA is heavily back-loaded to the second half of the season and the playoffs, when ratings and fan interest surge. ESPN is shifting early-season ad dollars into its menu of college football and basketball games, while Turner, whose TNT broadcasts were set to add Shaquille O’Neal as a commentator this season, is eyeing avenues such as TBS and Adult Swim programming to keep the ad spending in-house.
“Turner has a diverse portfolio of programming and platforms to provide our advertising partners with a broad range of options for their distinct brand message,” Turner spokesman Sal Petruzzi said. “Turner Sports is working together with our advertising partners on alternative programming options which reach the NBA-targeted demos across the company’s portfolio of brands, programs and platforms, including TBS, Adult Swim, truTV, and Conan.”
And so far, there’s no indication that advertisers are running much for the hills.
“There’s not that many people lying awake at night worrying about this,” said Peter Farnsworth, a former NBA executive who heads sports marketer Foxrock Partners and advises league advertisers. “With the NFL, people would have been rushing Capitol Hill.”
The attitude advertisers have right now is pretty expected given the fact that, like the article points out, games have only been lost through November and most NBA advertising is loaded on the back end of the season. You know, after the all star break when, you know, people…like…actually start watching. If people really paid attention to the NBA prior to the break you’d see more intensity on the part of everyone to get a deal done. I don’t think advertisers are alone in their delayed concern.
If you’re wondering which advertisers spend the most during NBA season, Ad Age has a handy chart:
| # | Marketer | NBA Ad Spending Oct 2010-June 2011 |
| 1 | Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile) | 30,064 |
| 2 | Yum Brands | 29,232 |
| 3 | General Motors Co. | 25,419 |
| 4 | Sony Corp. | 24,848 |
| 5 | Time Warner | 23,000 |
| 6 | National Basketball Association | 20,389 |
| 7 | Kia Motors Corp. | 19,605 |
| 8 | Ford Motor Co. | 18,146 |
| 9 | SABMiller (MillerCoors) | 17,866 |
| 10 | Comcast Corp. | 17,613 |
| 11 | McDonald’s Corp. | 16,065 |
| 12 | Chrysler Corp. | 15,768 |
| 13 | Toyota Motor Corp. | 15,279 |
| 14 | U.S. Government* | 14,656 |
| 15 | Honda Motor Co. | 14,195 |
| 16 | Apple | 13,486 |
| 17 | PepsiCo | 13,023 |
| 18 | Berkshire Hathaway (mostly Geico) | 12,366 |
| 19 | Verizon Communications | 11,739 |
| 20 | Heineken | 11,582 |
| 21 | AT&T | 11,154 |
| 22 | Mazda Motor Corp. | 10,663 |
| 23 | Walt Disney Co. | 10,525 |
| 24 | News Corp. | 10,095 |
| 25 | Anheuser-Busch InBev | 10,022 |
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