Brand Storytelling Live Streams: NBA2K League & Brand Partnerships
Live on Zoom - Wednesday, April 22nd at 1:00PM PST
In 2017, gaming company Take-Two Interactive forged a partnership with one of the country's most recognizable sports associations, the NBA, and the NBA 2K League was born. The league's popularity and growth over the last three years are punctuated by its apex at the emergence of the Coronavirus, when suddenly live basketball couldn't continue, but the 2K league persisted the advent of live streaming, remote event programming, and brand partnerships.
Join us as we chat with the folks at the NBA 2K League to discuss how they are leveraging brand partnerships to continue to reach audiences with new content, stories, and events through the 2K league.
Hosted By
Brian Kamenetzky
Host of ESPNLA 710, Writer at The Athletic
Brian Kamenetzky is a sportswriter and radio host in Los Angeles, contributing to outlets including the LA Times.com, ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine and The Athletic. Additionally, he has worked with athletes creating content at The Players' Tribune, and multiple studios for sponsored feature stories and videos.
Featuring
Lindsay Ullman
Head of Business Development NBA 2K League
Lindsay Ullman is the Head of Business Development for the NBA 2K League. In her role, she is charged with defining the brand, growing the business - including overseeing NBA 2K League partnerships - and enhancing the fan’s journey.
Since joining the NBA in 2013, Ullman has served in a variety of roles including a key contributor on the NBA’s internal team consulting group, Team Marketing and Business Operations (TMBO). Ullman developed competitive digital dashboards, presented on digital and social strategies, and shared industry best practices to drive team business goals. Prior to joining the NBA, Ullman worked with multiple brands on digital strategy including Equinox, the Atlanta Hawks, the Atlanta Thrashers and Philips Arena.
Matt Adren
Head of Content & Media
NBA 2K League
Matt Arden wants you to know that George Michael was host of “The Sports Machine” and not just the singer of “Faith,” though he thinks both were equally talented. Growing up all Matt wanted to do was work in sports, so when he was able to secure an internship at “The George Michael Sports Machine” during his junior year at Virginia Tech, his entire world changed. That’s when he realized that storytelling, not scores, are the heart of any good broadcast.
Matt went on to join Turner Broadcasting where he spent 11 years working across multiple channels and platforms, most notably as a multiple Emmy-Award-winning creative producer in Turner Sports’ (now Warner Media News & Sports) Creative Services Sports Unit. But, in 2011 his even more talented wife got a job offer in New York City, and Matt felt it would be poor form to continue living in Atlanta, so he took his chances in the Big Apple. He landed at Maggie Vision Productions, where he got the opportunity to work on a wide range of ESPN products, including the ESPYs. He then spent six years building and leading the “40 Foot Solutions” brand studio at Screenvision Media, where he rebranded and maintained one of the nation’s largest cinema entertainment networks and oversaw unique branded content productions for a roster of more than 150 national brands.
Today he is Head of Content & Media for the NBA 2K League where he leads the creative direction of all NBA 2K League content, overseeing the development and execution of the league’s content strategy, creative, and distribution across all platforms. He also oversees relationships with media distribution partners, analyzes data to make continual improvements to the league’s live broadcasts, manages third-party content agencies, designs content concepts and activations for marketing partners, and plays an integral role in identifying international broadcast opportunities for the NBA 2K League.
In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, trying to keep up with their toddler, and exercising just enough to counter his love of food and drink in New York City.
