NBC Sports

30 Rocks at 30 Rock

The Return of the NBA on NBC

30 ROCKS AT 30 ROCK

THE RETURN OF THE NBA ON NBC

Challenge

20 years after giants like Jordan, Barkley, Ewing, and Shaq drove the excitement and viewership for the NBA to new heights on NBC, the league has returned to the Peacock family of networks. With a significant financial investment in the renewed media rights, NBC needed a dynamic, statement-making platform that would inspire a new generation of interest, social buzz, and viewership for the homecoming NBC Tip-Off.

NBC and NBA turned to rEvolution for the assist.

Approach

From the start, rEvolution envisioned a largescale event that would drive earned media for the return of the NBA on NBC. However, simply creating a basketball spectacle would not be enough. The event would need to launch engaging influencer content and inspire organic social sharing to reach audiences nationwide.

The program also needed to be uniquely ownable for NBC to ensure fans understood this was not just the return of a new NBA season but the start of a new era of the NBA on NBC. Lastly, we needed to connect with fans of all 30 NBA teams to create excitement and drive tune-in in each of those markets.

Our Solution

30 NBA TEAMS. 30 ROCKS. 30 ROCK PLAZA.

With NBC headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Center, New York City was the natural place to celebrate the return of the NBA to the network. Serendipitously, there are 30 teams in the NBA, and fans of the game lovingly refer to the basketball as “the rock.”

That was all the inspiration rEvolution needed to create “30 Rocks at 30 Rock” – a six-day celebration of the NBA on NBC that perfectly melded sport and culture.

Execution

On the New York streets of 30 Rock Plaza, rEvolution constructed a one-of-a-kind NBA court made up of 1,500 square feet of eye-catching LED screens, then filled the rest of the popular plaza with 30 team-inspired “rocks” designed by noteworthy artists representing all 30 NBA teams.

rEvolution worked with NBC, the NBA, and league sponsors to create daily shareworthy programming that dominated social media including visits from NBA legends, a dunk contest from Team Flight Brothers (3+ million followers on Instagram and TikTok), a Nike 3×3 basketball tournament, fan contests, influencer appearances, and live NBC broadcasts of Today, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Access Hollywood, and more.

After the wildly successful launch of the NBA on NBC season, each of the 30 artist-designed rocks was placed by the team and city as a public art installation, creating new opportunities for local news stories and brand exposure that will last for the rest of the season and beyond.

Results

On-Site Impact

535,000+ total visitors across 30 Rock Plaza

North Plaza: 161,910 visitors
Center Plaza: 373,662 visitors

Social & Digital

17.2M+ views and 238K engagements across NBA on NBC social platforms
600M+ total views across owned and third-party social accounts
Top 20 trending topics during NBA Tip-Off

Media & Earned Coverage

Coverage across 20+ major media outlets, including TODAY Show, Variety, WNBC (three separate days), Telemundo, NBCNewYork.com, Sports Business Journal, Sports Video Group, NYC Plugged, and Time Out

Business Impact