With the NBA Finals in full swing, NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum joins Yahoo Finance’s Alexandra Canal to discuss how the league needs to meet their fans where they are consuming content. Tatum also discusses the importance of growing the league internationally with their plethora of international stars. In addition, he talks about the Caitlin Clark phenomenon and what the growth of the women’s game means for both the men’s and women’s products.
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Video Transcript
We’re joined now by NBA deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum.
Mark.
Thank you so much for being here.
NBA finals currently underway, Celtics versus the Mavs two huge franchises, lots of young stars as well.
What makes this match up such a special one for the league?
Thank you, Ali.
There are so many things that make this matchup a special one.
Number one, we’ll have a new champion for the sixth consecutive season.
Uh That really is an indication of the level of talent that’s spread out across teams throughout the league.
Uh This includes 24 2020 24 NBA, all stars, Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown and the superstar Luka Don who will headline and are headlining these finals.
Um The other thing that I think is really compelling is that the Boston Celtics is a historic franchise right now.
They’re tied with the L A Lakers for the most championships in NBA history with 17.
The Celtics are trying to break that tie and go into number 18.
Um And I also think that the record number of international players in this finals is really something to take a look at 13 international players are in this series including Luka DC Christos Porzingis, Al Horford.
So that’s the most number of international players in the NBA finals ever.
And now heading into the finals, we did see overall player playoff viewership down about 13% compared to 2023.
But the NBA did set records for attendance and sellouts throughout the season.
What do you attribute the decline of playoff viewership to?
Well, I think, you know, when you look at our regular season, we went into, uh, this was our most viewed regular season globally in five years.
And, um, and I think we’re seeing now during the game one of the NBA finals, we had 11 million viewers tune into game one, that delivered the largest game one audience share ever on ABC with a 20.3% share.
Uh That was quadruple the viewership of the closest competition on television according to Nielsen.
So, uh we’re seeing great momentum.
I’d tell you, our social media platforms have generated more than 6 billion views driven in large part by some of the superstars that are featured in this NBA finals, Luka Danic, um and Jason Tatum are two of the top 10 most viewed, uh, athletes NBA players on social and digital media.
So we’re seeing record levels of engagement uh throughout these playoffs and, and it’s a continuation of the momentum that we saw throughout the regular season and the consumption of sports has also changed, right?
It’s no longer just cable or broadcast, we now have streaming exclusive partnerships, joint ventures.
I know you can’t speak to ongoing media rights negotiations.
But how does the NBA plan to leverage this moment in media to reach a greater audience?
Well, I think what we’re seeing right now is over the last 5 to 10 years.
Sports consumption has been defined by an increase in optionality for the fan and ultra personalization.
And so there are more ways than ever to watch sports programming NBA content.
And what we’re trying to do is make sure that no matter where the fan is that we’re meeting them, where they are, that we’re customizing what they’re seeing, the teams are seeing the players are interested in based on their preferences.
And so uh there’s still very much a role for traditional television.
We very much like the fact that our uh finals are on traditional network television.
Um But we also understand that a new generation of fans are consuming content through streaming platforms.
And so we want to make sure uh that we have that availability of programming and content across all different channels.
So I I think what you’re going to see is more of a hybrid, having our games both on traditional television and streaming in an effort to reach all of our fans.
So, so given that what are some of those growth areas beyond just those traditional outlets?
Is it just limited to social media and streaming?
What, what other options have you guys been exploring?
Oh, I think one of the other growth areas for us is the international growth of the game.
And so, uh places like Africa, for example, where we launched a new league in the basketball Africa league, uh places in India as an example or Southeast Asia.
Uh these are all continuing growing areas for us um as we continue to expand the game of basketball around the world.
And why is it important to not just have one or two media partners?
I feel like there’s this diversification among all of these sports leagues.
So why do you want to be as diversified as possible?
Well, because our fans are consuming the NBA in diversified ways.
And so our goal as a sports league is to try to make sure that no matter where the fan is, no matter how they’re consuming content in particular sports content that we’re there, that we have that content available to them on that platform.
And so now there are more choices than there ever have been in the media landscape.
And so that requires going out and having partnerships with many more people in that space, whether it’s social and digital media partners, streaming partners and traditional media partners as well.
Now given that as of your remark, it feels very complicated to watch sports with streaming, broadcast cable, all fighting for a piece of the pie.
So how do you balance that need for diversification while also giving consumers the best experience and the most access as possible.
Yeah, it’s a great question.
We have to make sure that our fans that we, that we market, that we tell our fans where our games are available uh that we make it easily discoverable for them.
Uh And we’re constantly trying to figure out the best ways to do that with our partners uh through our marketing and through our communications with our fans.
And Mark, you also mentioned the league’s international efforts.
How is the global story become a more important narrative for the NBA?
Well, it’s so incredible the impact that these international players are having on our league.
Uh We have our games are played uh and, and, and seen and televised in 214 different countries in 60 different languages.
We had a record number of NBA players on opening season rosters this year.
Um We have 13 international TV networks who were in Boston and Dallas covering this NBA final live um in those markets.
And we also have viewing parties in 10 countries around the world.
Um And so the, the the the growth of the international player, you know, I think back to 1992 and that original dream team in the Summer Olympics back then, there were 21 international players uh from 18 different countries in the NBA.
Fast forward to today again, a record number, 100 and 25 international players from 40 different countries and these players are some of the best players in our league.
Um The winners of the last six mvps were all born outside the United States.
Uh And again, we talked about the record number of international players, 13 playing in this NBA finals, including Luka Don, who’s our leading scorer this year.
So, um we’re really seeing a tremendous impact from the international players in our league and the impact that they’re having on the game and given that international growth, is that something you think about?
Or, or perhaps it’s become more of a focus as you select media partners and figure out how you’re gonna broadcast these games for sure.
We have media partners all around the world.
But um as I mentioned, we want to get to fans wherever they are and uh when we look at our media partners and those that are global, um and have a global footprint that is very critical, that is very important to us uh to be able to, to be able to reach those fans no matter where they are.
So whether it is a global partner or local partners, and we’re always looking for the right partners to again ensure that our fans have access to our games and to our content where they are.
And I want to bring things back at home and talk.
Caitlin Clark, right?
She’s a superstar.
She seems to be the moment right now.
I’m curious if you’re seeing any correlation with her rising star to interest in the NBA and could there potentially be more partnerships and collaboration between the two leagues?
There’s no doubt we’re seeing record growth in the W NBA right now.
So Kaitlin is this exceptional athlete who’s transcended sports quite frankly.
And so, um she is helping along with the other amazing rookie class of Camilla Cardoso and Angel Reese and Cameron brink of setting records in the W NBA in terms of attendance in terms of viewership, merchandise, sales, social, and digital media, engagement, and what that class of player is doing is they’re bringing more fans into the game of basketball.
People.
I’ve had more people say that they’ve watched a women’s basketball game that they’ve watched a W NBA game for the first time because of this, because of Caitlin and these other rookie players and they’re seeing how great it is.
And so, yes, we do think that that interest in basketball certainly translates across both the women’s game and the men’s game.
And we’ll look forward to continuing the engagement with the W NBA around the NBA.
You might recall that last year at the All Star game, we did a competition with Steph Curry and Sabrina Jesu at the All Star game.
And so III, I would expect to see more integrations like that of the W NBA into the NBA experience.
So what does this all say about the power of stars within sports, well, uh, people tune in because they want to see great performances.
They wanna see, uh, stars who perform at the highest level in the times when there’s the most amount of pressure.
And so we’ve seen that across all different sports.
It’s no different in basketball, seeing someone like Caitlyn Clark and her skill set.
It’s extraordinary.
Um, and it, it, it gives you, this can’t miss feeling where you have to tune in, you have to watch them because they may do something special on any given night that has never been done before.
And I think that’s the beauty of sports and why people love it and are so engaged with it.
And speaking of star power, we have seen sports leagues lean on streaming platforms to create this more personal connection between viewers and players.
Netflix is full swing, the quarterback, two examples that come to my mind, really taking folks behind the scenes, so to speak.
Is this something that the NBA could explore down the line?
It is for sure.
And we are looking at that, we actually have a series um on, uh uh you know, on our digital streaming platforms as well, uh called Chasing The Dream.
And those are opportunities to go behind the scenes with the different playoff teams.
Uh We do that with the G League, we, we done with the basketball Africa league and people are just looking for that content to go behind the scenes and try to get a deeper look into what happens off the court.
And so we find that that’s really, really compelling content to and, and, and you get to tell amazing stories through that platform as well.
And as you work on positioning the NBA for this next decade, we’ve been talking international, we’ve been talking, you know, media diversification.
What legacy do you want for this league?
Well, right now, basketball is the fastest growing sport in the world.
And I think there’s more opportunities for us to continue to use the game of basketball to bring people together on a global basis.
And so, uh for us, I think that’s the, the legacy is continuing to grow the game around the world, continuing to get more boys and girls active and physically fit um and engaging through the game of basketball.
And um and, and we’re through that, I think we’re really seeing a positive impact on youth uh around the world as well.
And the NBA draft, it’s now two nights instead of one, that’s interesting why that transition.
Well, we got a lot of a lot of feedback from our basketball folks that said uh that the second night or the second round of the draft, which took place after the first round.
Uh really put a crunch on them who were engaging with their first round picks, trying to arrange logistics to get them into a market.
Um So they asked and, and now the second round picks are so valuable.
You think about Nikola Jokic was a second round pick.
He was a, you know, multiple time MVP in our league.
Jalen Bronson from the New York Knicks.
Second round pick Draymond Green.
So you had these wonderful second round picks who are sort of have been, um, put into this, you know, call it post midnight, uh time frame on the east coast.
And we, and our basketball people really encourage us to say, give us a little bit more time because these picks are so valuable to us and let’s give them their own night.
Um, so that people can get to know them um in the same way that they would get to know the first round pick.
So, um we thought for that reason and so many other more for the fans, we thought it was a great opportunity to expand our draft.
All right, Mark Tatum NBA, deputy commissioner.
Thank you so much for your time today.
And I, I, like I said, I’m a Sixers girl, so I don’t have a preference here but go Mavs go Celtics.
Thanks so much.
Thank you.