• Ad Age, Wednesday, May 9, 2007 11 AM

The National Basketball Association has tapped Goodby, Silverstein & Partners as its new ad agency as it hopes to use the current hoopla about the playoffs to build for the future as TV viewership flattens.

The league also wants to boost merchandise sales and push its product across various media, while reaching out to Hispanics, says Carol Albert, the NBA's senior vice president of marketing. Ads featuring illusionist and stunt artist David Blaine broke last week and are meant to bring some magic back to the game. But some believe the NBA needs more to solve its problems, among them the image of its players and a study claiming racial bias in officiating.

"We have two major things in the sports marketing world -- product and image," says the general manager of a big-league franchise. "To be successful, you have to have both."

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