Adam Silver was recently a guest on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and The Three podcast. Silver, who took over the role of NBA Commissioner in 2014, has been at the helm of the NBA’s digital era. While on the show, JJ Redick and Silver talked about a lot of problems the league faces and how the NBA approaches to fix them. One such topic that came up was ‘NBA Twitter’. Introducing the topic briefly, Redick asked the Commissioner whether he deals with memes and other Twitter/X news or trends that goes viral Answering Redick’s question, Silver admitted that he regularly deals with social media-related matters highlighted by the NBA’s Communications team. The veteran executive told Redick, “We live in the world, even to the extent that it is a meme or its a theme on social media, I find that we need to enter the conversation.”
Commissioner Silver further went on to explain the NBA’s engagement
strategy with NBA Twitter, “
In some cases where it is factually wrong, to do our best we can to correct the record. In some cases to try as best we can to guide the conversation. In some instances to react to the conversation.” Silver further explained the NBA’s plan to leverage social media. He added, “
To your point NBA Twitter is real. It’s a humongous audience of people. In fact, Twitter/X told us recently that sports is the number one category of content on that service….. It’s part of my job to see if we can harness it to our advantage.” It’s interesting to note that Silver has done numbers that have not been seen in a while. The NBA is up for a new media deal, and the market is looking good. The NBA has been witnessing record attendance for the last few years and it has a lot to do with the Commissioner and his strategy of making the NBA appealing to a younger audience.
Adam Silver on why he lets Highlights slide
The NBA might be one of the few leagues that is relatively lenient about their social media policy. To be more specific, the NBA not only allows creators to share highlights but does it themselves too. After each game, the NBA uploads 7-8 minute highlight reels of the games. This is all part of Silver’s plan to increase viewership and it has worked. During an interview with strategy+business, Silver explained his unorthodox methods of marketing, saying, “We promote the posting of our highlights. The highlights are identified through YouTube’s software, and when ads are sold against them, we share in the revenue.”
“We analogize our strategy to snacks versus meals. If we provide those snacks to our fans on a free basis, they’re still going to want to eat meals – which are our games. There is no substitute for the live game experience. We believe that greater fan engagement through social media helps drive television ratings,” he added. This masterstroke from Silver is only one of the many things the Commissioner has in line. With the talk of expansion teams and the construction of new stadiums, Silver’s eyes are set on the international stage. Like Commissioner Stern before him, he understands the value of international fans. Not only has Silver provided services like LeaguePass but has also invested in player development in India and Africa. With more eyes on the game than ever before, Silver has an uphill task in keeping the NBA clean of any controversy.
