Streamer Kai Cenat to Collaborate with @NBA for Opening Night Knicks-Celtics Game on TNT
In advance of the start of the NBA season – which tips Tuesday – the league announced its largest initiative yet in its effort to engage directly with digital and social content creators. Most notably, the league will use WSC Sports, the popular AI-based video platform, to establish a new content-sharing network to directly provide select influencers access to more than 25,000 hours of NBA game footage and AI-driven editing tools.
“Creators are a key part of the NBA’s content ecosystem, helping us connect with new audiences in innovative ways,” Bob Carney, NBA Senior Vice President of Social and Digital Content said in an official announcement from the league. “We have experienced remarkable growth with our creator program since it launched in 2016, and we can’t wait to see what this season brings.”
Social creators like Thinking Basketball, Swish Cultures, By Any Means Basketball, CoshReport, MaxaMillion711, and Golden Hoops, will have the ability to use footage from the NBA Playmakers content-sharing network to produce their own reaction posts and storytelling opportunities.
For Opening Night on Tuesday, the NBA is partnering with the popular streamer Kai Cenat and creator Drew Afualo to collaborate on the NBA’s various social media handles during the New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics game, which airs on TNT (7:30 p.m. ET). Afualo will also be back on Wednesday as she will be featured across NBA social channels as she attends the Phoenix Suns vs. LA Clippers game on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN) – the first NBA contest at the new Intuit Dome.
Also coming this season is the return of the NBA Creator Cup Series. Last season, influencers such as Jenna Bandy, Jesser, Kris London, Lethal Shooter, and Tristan Jass competing in games at NBA tentpole events like the Emirates NBA Cup, All-Star, and Summer League. Rosters for those events to named at a later date.
Building on last season’s success – which featured influencers Jenna Bandy, Jesser, Kris London, Lethal Shooter and Tristan Jass – the NBA Creator Cup Series returns with three exciting games at marquee NBA events: the Emirates NBA Cup in Las Vegas, NBA All-Star in the San Francisco Bay Area and NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. These games will showcase skilled basketball creators, with rosters to be announced at a later date.
There will be more on-site activations with creators, as well. The NBA shared that, as part of their partnership with Meta, the duo will collaborate to bring creators on-site to meet and greet fans and provide hands-on demos of the Quest courtside experience. Additionally, the league is partnering with Snapchat on the Snap Creator Program, bringing top creators to NBA events to create content for their accounts and the NBA Snap account.
The NBA Creator Correspondent Program, which features creators providing real-time courtside coverage at the league’s biggest events, returns for its second year. Creators, including Joy DeAngela, Rachel DeMita, and YPK Raye will provide fans with exclusive courtside coverage at major events. Last season, more than 100 creators – including food reviewer Keith Lee, comedian Funny Marco, and Air Corgi – generated more than 650 million video views across NBA social and digital channels.
The NBA is also planning to work with more than 100 creators of a voter participation campaign in the coming weeks leading up to Election Day.
