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The National Basketball Assn. announced today the launch of éne-bé-a, a marketing campaign that tailors the NBA experience to Latino fans.

With Latinos accounting for 15% of the NBA’s U.S. fan base of 120 million, according to Simmons Market Research, the new campaign aims to engage these fans and reach new ones.

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“It will allow us to further grow the game of basketball throughout the Hispanic market,” said Saskia Sorrosa, NBA senior director of U.S. Hispanic marketing.

It’s the league’s first comprehensive, multi-platform promotion catering to Latino fans and will include:

-- Television, radio and online advertising

-- TV spots featuring the Phoenix Suns’ Leandro Barbosa and other pro players that will run on Latino networks such as Telemundo, Univision, Telefutura, Discovery en Espanol, CNN en Espanol and MTV3, among other channels

-- Content on Spanish-language social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter and MiPagina

-- éne-bé-a-branded merchandise

-- Grass-roots programs such as Es Tu Cancha (‘It’s Your Court’), an initiative to improve and renovate basketball courts in Latino neighborhoods throughout the country

-- éne-bé-a en forma, part of the NBA’s physical fitness initiative NBA Fit, which will target local Latino communities and promote healthy lifestyles

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-- ‘Lee Para Aprender,’ a year-round literacy program in which Latino NBA players will host reading sessions in Spanish-speaking communities throughout the season

-- A Spanish-language website (www.nba.com/enebea), which will include webisodes featuring Latino NBA players

“We pride ourselves on our diversity and our inclusiveness as a league,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “We want to engage our current fans, develop new fans and to deliver the excitement of the world’s most dynamic game in a way that celebrates both our game and the cultural identify of our fans.”

The NBA has six U.S.-born Latino players and 19 players from Spain and Latin America currently on 2009-10 preseason rosters. The league has played 25 preseason games and one regular-season game in Latin America.

“Throughout my years, I’ve obviously seen a big change in the league. I’ve seen a lot of players come and go and luckily I’ve been a part of many Hispanic players coming into the league,” said New Jersey Nets forward Eduardo Najera. “I’m just happy that we’re now reaching out to all of the fans we have out there.”

The league partnered with Bromley Communications, a Latino advertising agency, for the campaign. The television component debuts today on both English- and Spanish-language outlets across the country. The league already has a deal in place with ESPN Deportes to telecast weekly NBA games in Spanish, which will include the Eastern Conference finals this season, and 11 NBA teams already feature live Spanish-language radio broadcasts of games.

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-- Yvonne Villarreal

éne-bé-a website component. Credit: NBA

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