Who’s your pick for the 2026 NBA Finals? If you’re a fan of the game, you likely already have a rooting interest—and probably some very strong opinions too. As of this writing, the West is still a jump ball. Perhaps you view San Antonio’s Wemby as literally super-sized salvation—or maybe he’s deserving of a flagrant elbow into the off-season. Is OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the second coming of MJ—or his season destined to flop? And what about New York’s decades-in-the-making return: team of destiny or lucky layup? We can debate that all. (Disclaimer: I’m a proud New Yorker—which means I will debate you. Loudly.) 

But what if you’re a brand? Does it even matter which teams compete in the NBA Finals from a marketing perspective? Setting my personal bias aside, there’s a strong case for brands to support the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. (Not speaking as a fan at all, of course.)

NYC DELIVERS REACH  
You’re a brand looking to capture like-minded NBA fans. You hope your campaign will be seen by the largest relevant audiences. The campaigns we launch start with a hard look at target numbers to optimize your performance. And in this case, New York is the #1 Nielsen DMA (Designated Market Area) in the U.S., with roughly 7.5 million TV households and a 6% share*—that’s far ahead of any other market. (LA is #2 with 5.8M TV households and a 4.7% share…but LeBron was just “out talented” for that to matter here.) Additionally, NY DMA leads the country in local advertising spend—$3.3B+ alone.** So if you want your dollars to reach the most NBA fans in market, let’s go Knicks.

BIG APPLE, BIGGER IMPACT 
When you consider that reach in addition to aggregated sponsor comps focused on brand impact of the East Coast finalist—well, it starts to resemble Brunson’s stat line.  Our agency does regular, in-depth, and proprietary research across fan audiences, including the NBA Finals specifically. In this case, an East Coast NBA finalist delivers a 105% lift in unaided brand awareness; 104% lift in brand feature recall; 107% lift in brand opinion, and a 107% lift in purchase intent.*** As a brand looking to make impact, the Knicks deliver another sweep.

NY STATE OF MIND 
But the most compelling brand marketing case for the Knicks exists beyond the numbers, and is likely most obvious too. The best sports marketing is a confluence of sport and lifestyle. Moments when the brand storytelling leaps beyond the sports pages into all sections: entertainment, fashion, music, history—CULTURE. And in this regard, the extended cultural cast of the New York Knicks is unmatched: Timothée, Kylie, Spike, Fat Joe, Tracy, Ben…we’re on a first name basis with these NY celeb-fans because they’ve dominated both conversation and coverage. Any brand that attaches itself to the NY Knicks taps into a built-in cultural cast (and media focus) most ad budgets couldn’t touch.  

KNICKS FOR THE WIN 
This season marked the momentous return of the NBA to NBC. Our agency was proud to partner with NBC/Peacock to tip off the NBA season with a mighty experience in the heart of NYC. At that time, for this New York fan, a Knicks Finals was just a dream. But the marketer in me should have trusted the numbers. I certainly can’t predict the outcome of the Finals. But it’s clear who the brands should support. (Knicks in 6.) 

Dave Rothkopf
SVP, Creative + Strategy
rEvolution 

*Source: Nielsen
**Source: MediaRadar
***rEvolution Research