The NBA’s “most expansive creator program” tips off with Kai Cenat collab

Ahead of the NBA‘s opening night on October 22, the association has announced its influencer marketing plans for the upcoming season. An extensive, wide-ranging series of creator initiatives will kick off during the very first game of the season, when Kai Cenat will join the TNT crew in Boston to watch the Celtics take on the Knicks.

A press release describes the NBA’s 2023-24 slate as the “most expansive creator program” the pro basketball league has rolled out to date. The plan is to build on existing initiatives while simultaneously unlocking new opportunities for hoops-happy creators.

Cenat and Drew Afualo will be two of the first creators to participate in the NBA’s season-long undertaking. Cenat will show up across NBA social channels on the 22nd, when he’ll share his experience at the hotly-anticipated Celtics/Knicks tilt.

A day later, it will be Afualo’s turn. The host of the Comment Section podcast will attend the matchup between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers, and her thoughts will be broadcast across NBA-affiliated social hubs. She and Cenat have already registered their NBA connections by appearing the season-opening campaign dubbed “The Tip-Off.”

As the season goes on, creator-facing opportunities will be bunched around the most important dates on the NBA calendar. The Creator Cup, an influencer gauntlet that kicked off last year

during the inaugural NBA Cup, will take place next to Cup games once again. Additional Creator Cup showdowns will be held during All-Star Weekend (which is always an important time for basketball influencers) and the NBA Summer League.

The NBA has always been one of the most thoughtful sports leagues as far as digital content goes, but with its latest slate of creator partnerships, it seems to be taking a page out of another league’s book. The NFL has increased its presence on platforms like YouTube by teaming up with sports-loving stars like Deestroying. Now the NBA is showing that it wants to try out a similar strategy.

“Creators are a key part of the NBA’s content ecosystem, helping us connect with new audiences in innovative ways,” said NBA SVP of Social and Digital Content Bob Carney in a statement.  “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.”

The creator program Carney referred to is known as NBA Playmakers, and it’s getting a makeover for the 2023-24 season. Creators will still be able to license NBA highlights for their original videos, but they’ll now get the keys to an extensive archive as well. Through a partnership with WSC Sports, the NBA will let select creators access 25,000 hours of NBA game footage and AI-driven editing tools. The beneficiaries of that partnership will include Thinking Basketball, Swish Cultures, By Any Means Basketball, CoshReport, MaxaMillion711, and Golden Hoops.

Basketball creators have already raised their level on YouTube, and the stars of the sport are starting to get in on the fun as well. The planned expansion of NBA creator partnerships looks to take a forward-thinking league into the future. NBA games could stream on YouTube one day — and if they do, the platform’s creator community will be ready for its inbounds pass.