• by Les Luchter , December 18, 2023

From left: NBA star Paul George, sports personality Taylor Rooks, WNBA's Arike Ogunbowale.

Through Jan. 3, NBA fans who are AT&T users can compete to win one of 10 experiential prizes: from courtside tickets to an NBA Finals game or a “VIP” trip to the NBA All-Star Game, to a shopping spree with NBA and WNBA stars or a “VIP” trip to the NBA Draft.

To enter the contest, customers are asked to explain why they’re “the ultimate basketball fan and how one of these dream experiences will elevate [their] connection to the NBA.” Three finalists selected for each prize will then need to submit a video for the chance to win their “dream experience.”

Teaming up with AT&T to be part of these prizes are NBA star Paul George, WNBA stars A’ja Wilson and Arike Ogunbowale, and sports personalities Chris Brinkley and Taylor Rooks. George, for example, is involved with two prizes: a Los Angeles Clippers “experience” and a gaming “experience.”

The celebrities also appear in a video promoting the contest that’s been posted on Instagram, TikTok and X. The humorous spot, set in the “NBA Dream Department” of ATT’s Los Angeles offices, feature the celebs as AT&T employees who happen to be themselves.

“We’re also calling on our NBA league and team relationships like the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat…to amplify the campaign,” Sabina Ahmed, AT&T’s assistant vice president, sponsorships & experiential marketing, tells Marketing Daily.

Ahmed says that AT&T has had “close collaboration” with Wasserman Media Group and the Oust agency in bringing the contest to life.

AT&T, linked with the NBA since 2019, is currently the league’s “official 5G innovation partner, “official 5G wireless network” and “official fiber internet partner.”

Previous AT&T/NBA promotions that were open to all the brand’s customers have included a “Dunk Pool” last spring in which AT&T added “5Gs,” aka $5K, for every dunk in the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Finals. AT&T awarded $50 gift cards to nbastore.com, and donated $10 to Digital Divide Initiatives for every gift card claimed. 

Before the playoffs started, AT&T customers in Miami and Los Angeles could interact with 20-foot-tall gumball machine-inspired pop-ups to win tickets to the NBA conference finals and other prizes.

“Our[NBA]  partnership is built upon the shared mission of connecting basketball fans to greater possibility, bringing them up close to the most iconic moments, plays and dunks in history through access to unique experiences that fans can take advantage of, whether at home or in the stands,” says Ahmed.