K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM has been selected as “Friends of the NBA” in Asia by the National Basketball Association (NBA) as part of a new multi-year collaboration program. The program is the league’s celebrity and influencer program in Asia for new and creative ways of engaging fans, as described in a press statement. LE SSERAFIM will collaborate with the NBA on a variety of exclusive content for social media, participate in league promotion activities, and attend NBA games and events. The NBA’s Chief Marketing Officer, Tammy Henault, said, “We look forward to bringing NBA and K-pop fans together in South Korea, across Asia, and around the world and broadening the reach of our game as we celebrate this convergence of music, culture, and sports.”
LE SSERAFIM is the first K-pop group to have a formal relationship with the association, following in the footsteps of HYBE labelmate Suga of BTS, named NBA Ambassador in April 2023, who is the only other K-pop artist to do so. The NBA aims to combine sports and music with this promotion of the intersection of sports and music. The quintet had visited the NBA headquarters, the official NBA Store in New York, and attended the November 2 LA Clippers vs. Los Angeles Lakers game together last year.
LE SSERAFIM expressed their excitement at the sports association, stating, “We are so excited to collaborate with the NBA through its ‘Friends of the NBA’ program. We had a great time watching an NBA game in person last year in LA! We look forward to working together with the league to experience so much more with NBA fans around the world.”
With the expansion of the promotion of pop music and basketball, the NBA is introducing fresh ways of content delivery. The basketball league is enlisting the reach and impact of K-pop stars to help grow their fan base. Beyond the traditional marketing and advertising millstones, the NBA is tapping into creative and disruptive means to get the message out there
Read the full article on NME here: Read More