How AW walked an NBA Hall Of Famer into a local Manly bar
As the NBA season geared up for the playoffs, basketball fans across the globe were tuning in to catch the pointy end of the season. But here in Australia, footy fever had taken hold and fans were flocking to bars and pubs to catch the latest footy games, instead.
So how do you leverage sports fans in the place they’re at, to get them to switch on to the NBA?
You walk a legend into that very same bar.
For the main event, the NBA and TAB flew in NBA Champion and Hall of Famer Gary Payton for a Q&A and meet-and-greet with Aussie fans. Gary has a storied NBA career spanning 17 seasons, winning an NBA Championship with the Miami Heat in 2006 and being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1996. For many, Gary Payton’s Block Party presented a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet their NBA hero.
To give footy fans a reason to stick around, we handpicked the attendees from Australia’s footy elite.
It was a star-studded guestlist featuring Manly’s favourite son and Sea Eagles’ player, Jason Saab, NRL legends Scotty Price and Josh Mansour, Olympic Gold Winner and AFL player Chloe Dalton, Dally M Rookie of the Year Kennedy Cherrington, and TikTok sensation and ex-pro basketballer Kev Pong. Fans revelled at the chance to meet some of Australia’s sporting royalty, get merch signed and have their photos taken alongside them.
To leverage the audiences of these players, we created bespoke social content for each guest to share, generating buzz and anticipation for the event. The media caught on and the event was shared across What’s On pages across Sydney, further amplifying the event to sports fans in Manly and beyond.
As fans rolled in on the day, the energy was palpable. Alongside meeting Gary Payton himself, punters shot some hoops, won great NBA merch, enjoyed free popcorn, and rubbed shoulders with Australia’s NRL elite.
We successfully diverted thousands of eyeballs to the NBA for the day, sparking conversations among fans on social media who had the chance to meet Gary Payton, and those who wished they had been there.
Not bad for an afternoon at your local.
