Las Vegas emerged as the epicenter of basketball excitement, hosting a series of monumental events in July 2023. The festivities began with the NBA 2K24 Summer League held at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion July 7-17th, where all 30 NBA teams competed for 11 days in a total of 76 games.

With immense energy, members of the basketball world and thousands of fans came together to witness the highly anticipated draft picks take center stage to compete. Top picks included the debut of the viral 7’4” French phenom Victor Wembanyama, Alabama’s Brandon Miller, G League Ignite’s Scoot Henderson, Overtime Elite’s Thompson brothers (Amen & Ausar) and many others. The event concluded with the Cleveland Cavaliers hoisting up the championship trophy and each team member sporting their Summer League championship rings created and produced by Jason of Beverly Hills.

Record Soaring Numbers

This year’s Summer League continued on its path to breaking records. With lines stretched out the door, the 2023 event drew in a record consecutive 3-day sold out opening weekend (17,500 fans each day) behind its 2nd highest overall attendance at 136,623 total fans across 11 days. NBA 2K24 Summer League garnered a record 456,000 average viewership on ESPN Networks during opening weekend and a 434,000 average viewership during the championship game on ESPN (+46% vs 2022). In addition, NBA 2K24 Summer League drew record breaking numbers for NBA Social & NBA App with 814 million video views throughout the duration of the event and 300 million video views during opening weekend.

SUPPORT FOR SURROUNDING NBA EVENTS

The on-court action is only a microcosm of what the NBA 2K24 Summer League brought to Las Vegas, it has become a gateway for more partnership activations & ancillary pieces to host outside of the game. What made this year’s basketball festival more impactful were the surrounding NBA related events and announcements including NBA Con, In-Season Tournament announcement, WNBA All-Star Weekend, NBPA events and activations, first-ever Jr. NBA Showcase and USA Basketball Showcase.

The Inaugural NBA Con

The first ever NBA Con took place during the opening weekend of Summer League and held across the Las Vegas strip at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The inaugural three-day basketball culture event brought together NBA stars, musicians, basketball enthusiasts, fashion and art all in one building.

VSL Properties and HallPass engaged its event management and digital marketing teams to partner with NBA Con on a variety of deliverables including support for a concourse activation, digital ad runs on in-arena digitals, email marketing, cross promotion on social media, merch design and securing a dedicated transportation zone with a shuttle to transfer between both events.

Key moments of NBA Con included appearances and panels with Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Jerry West, Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson, Paolo Banchero, other NBA talent and a daily concert series from the likes of 2Chainz, Blxst, Toosii and more. Other fandom moments came from exclusive access to limited edition merchandise, immersive activations and meet and greets with stars of the game. However, one of the most notable moments during NBA Con was the announcement of the inaugural In-Season Tournament.

In-Season Tournament Announcement

Adding to the rotation of inaugural events during NBA Con, the NBA broadcasted the major announcement of the new In-Season Tournament. While the announcement was being made live over at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center and on national TV, VSL was able to stream a live feed during game breaks on in-arena jumbotrons at the Thomas & Mack and Cox Pavilion. Our teams also provided marketing assistance with ad placement on the concourse digitals and social media. The In Season Tournament is set to begin November 3rd during the regular season with the Semifinals and Championship game taking place December 7th-9th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

WNBA All-Star Weekend

AT&T WNBA All-Star Weekend added another layer of significance to summer hoops. Hosted at the Michelob UTLRA Arena July 14-15th (weekend 2 of NBA 2K24 Summer League), the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game drew a sold out crowd of 9,472 fans.

This would mark the first time that the WNBA coincided with NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, providing the opportunity for fans and members of the NBA family to gather around and show support for current and rising stars in both leagues.

Our event operations and digital marketing teams were happy to partner with WNBA in providing space for a WNBA All-Star “throne” activation and digital ad placements all throughout the Thomas & Mack Center concourse.

NBPA Activations and Events

VSL was excited to grow its partnership with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) at this year’s Summer League, introducing a unique experience for those in attendance. VSL Properties provided the NBPA with prime real estate on the concourse for their new Brotherhood Deli activation located right next to the main entrance of the Thomas & Mack Center.

With the entire buildout and branding Inspired by New York’s bodegas and delis, The Brotherhood Deli, in partnership with Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator (BBA) program, was the first-ever shopping experience that opened the doors for opportunities with its members and other brands. Through Amazon’s BBA program, this activation gave access to players and 20 black owned businesses to promote their brands alongside other exclusive merchandise items from the NBPA and Mitchell and Ness.

Click the following link to learn more about The Brotherhood Deli activation:
NBPA Prepares to Launch First-Ever Fan Shop Pop-Up During Summer League

In addition to the Brotherhood Deli pop-up activation, the NBPA was able to take full of advantage of the opportunity with its members and fans all in Las Vegas by hosting their ancillary events surrounding Summer League including:

• Inaugural NBPA Foundation Golf Invitational: Charity golf tournament hosted at the Las Vegas Country Club
• The Post Up: Live podcast party hosted by Matt Barnes (Former 14 year NBA veteran) at the Illuminarium
• Fanatics & NBPA Summer Players Party: Player and Celebrity party hosted at TAO Nightclub at The Venetian Resort

USA Basketball

USA Men’s Basketball team prepared for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines by hosting the USA Basketball Showcase at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. USA Basketball concluded Las Vegas’ summer basketball run after the completion of NBA 2K24 Summer League with an exhibition game vs Puerto Rico Men’s National team. Our marketing teams delivered on several materials through promotion on concourse digitals during NBA Summer League and post event actions via email and social media campaigns.

Jr. NBA Showcase

As the ongoing series of inaugural events continued, the NBA hosted the first ever Jr. NBA Showcase in conjunction with NBA 2K24 Summer League and AT&T WNBA All-Star Weekend. The showcase, presented by Nike, hosted a total of forty (40) 13-14 year old elite basketball stars from seventeen (17) different countries, setting the stage for these young boys and girls to take part in a series of events that would lead into exhibition games.

Jr. NBA Showcase exhibition games were held on Saturday, July 15th and streamed live on NBA TV and the NBA App, taking over the Cox Pavilion for a majority of the day as the rest of Summer League’s consolation games were played in the Thomas & Mack Center. As part of being immersed into NBA festivities in Las Vegas, Jr. NBA Showcase participants were provided the opportunity to attend select NBA 2K24 Summer League games and AT&T WNBA All-Star Weekend events.

Click the following link to learn more about the first-ever Jr. NBA Showcase in Las Vegas:
First-ever Jr. NBA Showcase unveils future of youth basketball globally

NATIONAL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

In conjunction with reaching the markets of all 30 NBA teams and the Salt Lake City Summer League, HallPass and VSL Properties expanded its marketing efforts in unique ways across the nation.

Las Vegas

The new $2.3 billion MSG Sphere first lit up its large LED board in the Las Vegas night skies on the 4th of July, where it emitted a large rotating basketball with “Welcome NBA 2K24 Summer League” branding as part of its digital loop. Also adding to our digital presence in Las Vegas were placements on baggage carousels and led monitors inside the Harry Reid International Airport, Resorts World’s 100,000 square foot outdoor led monitor, Virgin Hotel’s casino floor screens, the city’s taxi stands and taxi tops, and digital billboards throughout the city.

Los Angeles and New York

Continuing with our outreach in Los Angeles, VSL and HallPass took to the county’s jam-packed freeways with digital billboard inventory, maintained relationships with media partners through delivering Summer League gift baskets, and conducted a special Enter-to-Win giveaway in collaboration with the Los Angeles Lakers. NBA 2K24 Summer League advertising also made a big presence in the streets of New York. HallPass and VSL secured digital real estate placement on “Zevv Vehicles,” zero emissions vending vehicle carts with large digital displays that were placed in multiple high traffic locations throughout the city of New York.