• by Danielle Oster , Yesterday

AT&T turned to brand partner and NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a basketball-celebrating “Ball for All” campaign that tipped off as the NBA season heats up ahead of the holidays.

The promotional sweepstakes asked audiences to submit a written submission or video explaining how they connect with NBA basketball for a chance to win one of 10,000 subscriptions to NBA League Pass, the subscription service allowing fans to stream NBA games live or on-demand. The sweepstakes began Dec. 12 and is running through January 9.

To break the news, AT&T turned to brand partner and 2025 NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the Oklahoma City Thunder to an NBA Championship last season. In a video ad stylized in the format of an on-court interview, Gilgeous-Alexander, while adopting the nickname “ShaiTNT,” hypes the scope of the giveaway. He claims AT&T has just doubled the size of the giveaway from 5,000 to 10,000 NBA League Pass subscriptions.

AT&T introduced the promotional sweepstakes with posts, including the video, across its Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube pages, as well as digital channels. On Instagram, the spot was cross-posted on Gilgeous-Alexander’s own Instagram page, where the NBA star has over 4.7 million followers.

The campaign debuted during the NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament that concluded on December 16, with the New York Knicks defeating the San Antonio Spurs in the League Cup Final, and ahead of the league’s annual Christmas Day games, which will run nationally on ABC and ESPN.

 “Partnering with Shai was a natural fit given our long-standing relationship and the role he plays in how fans experience the league today,” Sabina Ahmed, assistant vice president for sponsorships and experiential at AT&T, said in a statement.  “By offering fans the chance to win NBA League Pass, the focus was on removing barriers so more people can watch games in real time, reflecting how AT&T continues to use connectivity to support fan access to the NBA.”

The campaign’s digital focus reflects a broader marketing strategy. When Gilgeous-Alexander was named the 2025 NBA MVP earlier this year, AT&T leveraged its pre-existing brand partnership with the star to put together a social media video featuring career highlights over a voicemail from his mother, Charmaine, congratulating him on the accomplishment.

“One reason why we're spending a little bit less in mass media is because, given our targeted approach to how we want to converge customers, we can get a lot more out of digital marketing based on knowing where the customer is and what the best offer is to put in front of them,” AT&T CEO John Stankey said during an October earnings call discussing the company’s Q3 earnings report. “We've had pretty good success doing that.”