As the NBA lockout drags on, Madison Avenue is putting some $1 billion in basketball advertising in play.
That kind of money is usually devoted to pro basketball, but with the season around the corner and no deal in sight, advertisers are mapping out “what if” scenarios that would shift their budgets to other sports programming and potentially new media outlets.
“I would say if you’re an NBA advertiser, then things don’t look good,” said Marc Morse, senior vice president of national broadcast at ad shop R.J. Palmer.
“I’m hearing NBA advertisers are reaching out to NFL and to college basketball,” Morse said.
While the possibility of losing NFL games to a lockout caused widespread panic this year before players and owners hammered out a deal, advertisers said the NBA should be easier to replace because its season is spread out over a longer period of time.
Management locked out the players as of July 1 when the league’s collective bargaining agreement expired.
Already making replacement pitches are male-targeted cable networks such as Viacom’s Spike and Comedy Central and News Corp’s FX. (News Corp. also owns The Post.)
“The big winners would be the cable guys that skew male,” said Morse, noting that basketball tends to draw men between the ages of 18 and 34, a younger audience than pro football.
Disney’s ESPN/ABC and Turner’s TNT, which air the majority of NBA games, have the most to lose, while a host of regional sports networks would also be hurting if the strike isn’t resolved by the start of training camp in October. League games begin in November and a champion is crowned in June.
American Express and All State are among the NBA’s biggest advertisers. Basketball also attracts a number of telecom companies and movie studios eager to target young men.
A prolonged lockout also will hurt regional venues such as Madison Square Garden and its sports networks, which broadcast New York Knicks games, along with YES network, home to the New Jersey Nets.
Research firm Kantar Media estimates that network TV took in some $296 million during last year’s NBA season, while cable outlets reaped about $451 million. Spot TV grabbed another $117.6 million, bringing the advertising pot to $865 million.
Starcom MediaVest’s Mike Rosen said one of the biggest challenges for advertisers will be reaching African American viewers.
The NBA season is in jeopardy while the league tries to work out a balanced revenue-sharing deal. If no agreement is reached soon, the NBA will postpone training camp and start canceling preseason games.