• by Karl Greenberg , December 23, 2015

This is the eighth consecutive year that the NBA has featured five games on Christmas Day, and the games will be televised in 215 countries and in 47 languages, per the association.

Marketing partners and sponsors are on the court with activations for the holiday game schedule. According to the association, Harman and Tissot will debut their first NBA spots on Friday, and State Farm will launch a new campaign with several spots on Christmas Day. Tissot is focusing on new league and team-themed watches both online and in-store, including at the new Times Square location.

Also this week, sports apparel companies Nike and adidas will be advertising. The latter will be advertising around its relationship with James Harden with a new spot. According to the NBA, Adidas followed up on the launch of its Christmas Day jerseys, with new POS and digital creative around recent Christmas-themed launches. 

Nike is extending its “Bring Your Game” campaign with social media elements around athlete social handles. A group of young athletes select their favorite basketball player by spending time with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Paul George, Kevin Durant, Elena Delle Donne, and others, per the NBA. A five-minute film culminates the campaign on Christmas Day. Nike also has released Christmas colorways of the latest Nike signature athlete shoes (Kobe X, KD8, Kyrie 2 and LeBron 13) and the latest Jordan Brand signature athlete shoes (Air Jordan 11 72-10, commemorating the 95-96 Chicago Bulls 72-10 record season and Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony Christmas colorways).

Foot Locker is running advertising featuring Russell Westbrook, while Kids Foot Locker recently introduced a new spot with Stephen Curry. According to the Association, Under Armour and NBA Fit will debut a Christmas Day fitness challenge, "NBA FIT Fast break Challenge," which will live on Under Armour’s app, UA Record. The challenge includes NBA content, training tips and routines.    

Kia, which is exclusive auto partner with the NBA, is running with its new spot for the K900 luxury sedan, in which LeBron James insists that no -- he really does drive a K900. The NBA says Kia will serve as the presenting partner of NBA Holiday Gift Sweepstakes, dangling tickets, NBAStore.com gift codes, copies of NBA2K16, JBL speakers, and a 2016 Kia Optima.

Other marketers introducing holiday products are Spalding, which released a special edition basketball for the Christmas Day lineup, featuring a Christmas Day engraving and foil snowflake; Diageo, which will feature the Cîroc brand in a new vignette series, as part of the season-long ownership platform -- “Moments of Celebration”; and Dr. Scholl’s, which will also launch two new vignette series hosted by NBA Legend Kenny Smith, sharing ways players can raise their game.