The NBA vs. SNL

Growing up, I was a huge basketball fan. My grandfather took me to my first NBA game where we sat courtside to take in the glory that was Dr. J. at his prime. In high school, I hosted watch parties for the All-Star Game – the rhetoric (thank you, Walt “Clyde” Frazier) was often about the defense of the East vs the “run and gun” style of the West, and teams often struggled to score 100 points. Fast forward to 2024 where the score was East 211- West 186. Say what!?!

I’m also a native New Yorker, and NBCUniversal 's Saturday Night Live was a television staple in my house and my city. From Church Lady and Roseanne Roseannadanna to Hanz and Franz, SNL filled many a weekend with laughter. Two years ago, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity , SNL founder Lorne Michaels took to the main stage at the Palais to tease the show’s upcoming 50th and talk about its impact on culture. This weekend marked just about 20 months since I watched that promo video in Cannes, setting up a Sunday night battle of cultural proportions.

What to watch and who won the weekend? The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game or the star-studded 50th Anniversary SNL Tribute? Both had a start time of 8 PM ET, ran for about three hours and featured numerous high-powered celebs. But one was certainly more fun!

Let’s start with basketball. The NBA has struggled versus other major sports this year – national viewership for the first half of the season was down 5% year-over-year – although recent blockbuster trades have helped bring more eyes to the game. Luca Doncic’s first game with the Los Angeles Lakers drew an average audience of 2 million, slightly above the national average of 1.77 million this season. According to Sports Business Journal, viewership in February is up double digits compared to January, leaving executives hopeful as the league moves into the second half of the season.?

After waning energy, lack of competition and ridiculously high scores last year, the NBA rolled out a new format for this year’s All-Star Game. In an attempt to breathe new life into the weekend, four teams (Shaq’s OGs, Chuck’s Global Stars, Kenny’s Young Stars, and a team of Rising Stars) played a mini-tournament of games to 40 points. This new format was front and center of the conversation, with fans and media alike criticizing the restructured event for its overuse of "on-court emcee" Kevin Hart and three-hour run time, less than half of which actually featured basketball.

While the action on the court was underwhelming, many brands still tapped into NBA All-Star Weekend basketball fandom with unique announcements and activations.

In addition to the game itself, events throughout the weekend in San Francisco provided ownable brand moments with oil company Castrol sponsoring the Rising Stars practice and game, Frito-Lay brand Ruffles putting its name on the NBA All-Star Celebrity game and wireless giant AT&T serving as the presenting partner of the HBCU Classic in Oakland, featuring Morehouse College (alum Spike Lee, and fellow Knicks fan, was sitting courtside!) and Tuskegee University .?Our Allison Worldwide team was on the ground, supporting our Campari Group client and its Grand Marnier All-Star Weekend Wrap Party with a performance by Fabolous:

Long-time NBA sponsor State Farm owned Saturday evening – State Farm Saturday Night featured marquee events like the Kia Worldwide Skills Challenge (with that insane over the Kia dunk), 百事 's Starry 3-Point Contest and the AT&T Slam Dunk contest.?And even YouTube celeb MrBeast got involved, sponsoring the $100,000 challenge and one of the most exciting moments of the weekend when college student Jaren made the half-court shot for the winnings!

NBA All-Star Weekend is a huge moment for sneaker culture with 耐克 , Air Jordan , 阿迪达斯 and others all dropping new kicks for the weekend, including Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s long-awaited signature shoe with Converse. These brands are also leading the experiential game with Nike, Jordan and Converse all hosting immersive fan experiences and ANTA partnering with Shoe Place to celebrate their new shoe with Bay Area basketball legend Klay Thompson.

Tech brands unveiled new fan-driven technology, showcasing the future of the sport. 谷歌 brought back the Google Pixel House, showcasing Gemini Live and Google Lens with special NBA integrations and the “Pixel Pro Shot Challenge” at the NBA Crossover, the NBA’s official fan experience. WhatsApp announced a partnership with sports publisher OffBall to launch The Chat, a new trial feature that lets fans engage in real-time conversations with a select group of creators, celebrities, and athletes. This interactive experience aims to bring fans closer to the action by offering exclusive insights and discussions from high-profile figures. The inaugural chat occurred during the NBA All-Star Championship Game and featured sports media personalities Shea Serrano and Jason Concepcion.

Noticeably absent courtside were big-name celebs such as Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler, who typically would be engaged in All-Star Game festivities. Instead, they were “Live from New York” celebrating SNL’s 50th anniversary, along with dozens of others including Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin, David Letterman, Sabrina Carpenter, Tine Fey, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Eddie Murphy, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Bill Murray, David Spade and more. Complete with red carpet arrival coverage and a star-studded after-party, the star of the show was the show itself.

From the opening musical performance featuring Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter singing “Homeward Bound,” to a very funny monologue by Steve Martin and fan favorites such as Black Jeopardy and Weekend Update, SNL leaned into its history and consumer penchant for nostalgia, to prove once again that when Keenan Thompson told us this year at Cannes? “that funny is funny,” he knew what he was talking about!

With 80 minutes of ad time during its three-hour telecast and multiple brand partnerships, the NBA was likely the financial winner this weekend. The NBA is reporting a huge lift in viewership on its social channels – its TikTok had its most-viewed day ever this past Saturday (more than 100 million views!). However, in terms of longevity and dominating the zeitgeist, SNL clearly came out on top. You won’t find me, or likely anyone else, re-watching the games from All-Star Weekend. But I’ve already laughed out loud multiple times watching John Mulaney’s musical parody of New York through the decades and saved Adam Sandler’s sentimental tribute to the show’s 50-year history on my phone to listen to whenever I need a reminder of just how good SNL can be.

Stay fierce,

Lisa