Why the NBA is helping basketball creators make longer YouTube videos

As the National Basketball Association (NBA) opens another season, the league is expanding the way it works with creators to grow and popularize basketball.

It’s brought on top influencers such as Twitch streamer Kai Cenat and TikTokker Drew Afualo to mark the start of the 2024-25 season in a glossy trailer, running another edition of its five-versus-five celebrity creator tournament, the Creator Cup Series — and crucially, granting a coterie of creators access to tens of thousands of hours of basketball game footage.

Other sports leagues and organizations such as the PGA and WNSL have recently ramped up their engagement with the creator sector, and the NBA’s move to provide creators with game footage follows a similar initiative launched last year by the NFL.

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