{"id":112819,"date":"2025-06-20T19:59:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T19:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/112819\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T19:59:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T19:59:15","slug":"marketing-scores-big-for-pacers-and-thunder-in-nba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/112819\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing Scores Big for Pacers and Thunder in NBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder took their NBA Finals matchup to Game 7, but just making it this far took each team\u2019s merch, sports marketing<\/a>, and media to another level.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City got the Thunder in 2008 and had just over 601,000 people when a team featuring Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden went to the Finals in 2012. Amid the team\u2019s success and struggles that followed, the city\u2019s population grew to more than 713,000\u2014moving from the 29th-largest in the U.S. in 2012 to the 20th-largest today\u2014and has become more diverse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year, with star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named the league\u2019s MVP and memories of three straight losing seasons from 2021 to 2023 all but erased, the Thunder have maintained their years-long \u201cOnward\u201d<\/a> marketing strategy, bringing fans, brands, and community partners into the fold. The strategy focused on placing all 18 players on team graphics and merchandise, bringing in local designers to create special-edition gear, and encouraging fans to buy through their website or at activations like their Loud City HQ<\/a> weeklong pop-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are consistent with our brand\u2019s identity at every touch point, whether that be through the guest experience, the traditional marketing exposures, whatever that might be, and that is something that we adhere to, regardless of who\u2019s on the roster at that time or what performance is on the court,\u201d said Erin Lewis, the Thunder\u2019s director of brand identity. <\/p>\n

In Indianapolis, meanwhile, the Pacers\u2019 surroundings have also grown considerably since Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose, and Rik Smits took the team to its last Finals in 2000. Not only has the city\u2019s population jumped from roughly 782,000 to almost 900,000 in that time\u2014and diversified rapidly\u2014but the Pacers were joined in the city\u2019s pro ranks that year by the WNBA\u2019s Indiana Fever (which won the WNBA title behind Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings in 2012). This year, Pacers Sports & Entertainment has not only used social media to effectively tell the story of its \u201cYes \u2018Cers\u201d campaign and the clutch shooting of star Tyrese Haliburton but also to note the occasional presence of Fever stars Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Lexie Hull during NBA Finals games.<\/p>\n

As a result, Tyler Beadlescomb, svp of marketing and content at Pacers Sports and Entertainment, noted that the Pacers have stronger social media engagement in May and June of this year than they\u2019ve had during the entire NBA preseason and regular season combined. Meanwhile, demand for Haliburton jerseys, gold Yes \u2018Cers shirts, and anything with an NBA Finals logo on it has tripled demand for Pacers merchandise from regular-season levels.<\/p>\n

As the NBA Finals head into Game 7, the series\u2019 effect on each team\u2019s business and marketing extends far beyond displays at the Omni Hotel or JW Marriott and fan parties at Gainbridge Fieldhouse or Scissortail Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn The Finals, [Game 5] had just over 9 million viewers for the broadcast. That\u2019s a lot more than are normally watching Pacers games, so we\u2019re working with our partners at the NBA, ABC, and ESPN to provide them content that we have around the team to help get that in front of more eyeballs,\u201d Beadlescomb said. \u201cRealistically, this is your best chance to convert casual basketball fans that just love the NBA and are looking for a good series and a good game into Pacers fans, so we believe that if casual fans learn our players\u2019 stories, and they see out the exciting brand of basketball, we think that we can get them hooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selling every season like the Finals<\/p>\n

Michelle Matthews, director of fan engagement and retail for the Thunder, noted that some of the key changes in fan culture since the Thunder\u2019s 2012 Finals appearance have driven this year\u2019s success. For one, the fanbase is more digitally engaged, with sign-ups for the team\u2019s SMS fan text alerts increasing during the postseason as followers try to stay informed.<\/p>\n

Matthews has been with the Thunder for nearly 11 years, but came into her current position in the summer of 2023, after the Thunder ended their third-straight losing season. She noted that even in those early stages, data collected from fan interactions allowed her and her colleagues to rethink certain portions of the business: It introduced the Thunder Artist Group (TAG) to create street art and merch designs aimed at multiple generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"OklahomaThe Thunder arrived in Oklahoma City in 2008 and were great for more than a decade\u2026 until they weren\u2019t. Team marketers worked to build a win-or-lose culture.David Dow\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

It also retooled the team\u2019s youth basketball program and eventually teamed with Devon Energy on rural school physical education takeovers, with Google on tech programs, and with local universities on a college ambassador program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThose youth programs are important because we\u2019ve had so much growth in the city, and a lot of people have moved here. Maybe they\u2019re not necessarily from here,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cBut we know our standard for an experience\u2014whether it\u2019s a youth basketball camp or a book bus visit\u2014is so high that you\u2019re going to want to keep going back for more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will Syring, the Thunder\u2019s vp of corporate partnerships, still sees the occasional 2012 playoff T-shirt at his gym with an energy company\u2019s logo affixed. Local utility Oklahoma Gas and Electric bought space on the Thunder\u2019s Game 5 T-shirts, and Syring said he imagines seeing those around the city 10 to 13 years from now.<\/p>\n

Syring noted that 2022-23 was a record revenue year for the Thunder, but it was also a year that they didn\u2019t make the playoffs. While Syring said Thunder partners certainly take advantage of the exposure the Finals bring\u2014with credentialed press from 40 countries in Oklahoma City for the event\u2014having American Fidelity sponsor its book bus<\/a> or Devon Energy buy the Thunder\u2019s Loud City Partnerships\u2019 naming rights for the home of the NCAA Women\u2019s College Softball World Series (and 2028 Olympic softball host site<\/a>) demonstrates an enduring commitment to the surrounding community that\u2019s repaid in engagement and sales around the Finals.<\/p>\n

This year, the Thunder also received city council approval for a new $1 billion arena<\/a> that was overwhelmingly supported by voters and will keep the team<\/a> in Oklahoma City for at least 25 more years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn pro sports, I would argue you are only as good as the level of engagement you get from your community,\u201d Syring said. \u201cBecause your community drives ticket sales. It drives sponsorships. It drives fan development. It drives bookings in the camps that Michelle\u2019s team is running. It drives merchandise sales. If your team, your community, is only engaged when your team is playing well, it\u2019s very difficult to run an effective business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Certain victory<\/p>\n

The Pacers have handed out tens of thousands of gold shirts and placards throughout Indianapolis during the playoffs, with brand partners Starry, Kroger, and Key Bank stamped on each iteration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hard to go anywhere in Indianapolis right now and not see a number of variations, because we do \u2018Gold Outs\u2019\u2014and we did them all last playoffs and this playoffs. That means there are like 20 different designs out there,\u201d Beadlescomb said. \u201cYou\u2019ll be at a restaurant downtown, and you might see five different playoff shirts that people have worn in the last month.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AYou can\u2019t overestimate how much gold \u201cYes \u2018Cers\u201d gear currently exists in Indianapolis.Jeff Dean\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The \u201cYes \u2018Cers\u201d slogan is visible throughout the city from a graphic on the JW Marriott, less than a mile from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Bars downtown are awash in gold signs, gold towels, and gold posters. Even when the Pacers have been on the road, the team has filled Pacers watch parties at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with seats going for $5 apiece and proceeds going to the Pacers Foundation.<\/p>\n

The team has told the stories of Haliburton hitting a dozen shots in the last two minutes of playoff games to either go ahead or win. They\u2019ll tell anyone who\u2019ll listen that they have eight players averaging 10 points or more during the playoffs. They\u2019ve touted \u201cthe power of friendship\u201d between players, fans, and their fellow Indiana teams, and how \u201cbasketball matters more in Indiana.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming off of a celebrity-laden Eastern Conference Finals with the New York Knicks that averaged nearly 7 million viewers per game\u2014the most for that series since 2014 without going seven games\u2014the Pacers focused on its supportive stars like ESPN commentator and former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee, actor Terry Crews, TNT playcaller and Pacers legend Reggie Miller, and Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou. <\/p>\n

The added focus on Indianapolis during the NBA Finals has also spread to other endeavors, including bringing attention to the Wheeler-Dowe Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis, the Fever\u2019s WNBA Commissioner\u2019s Cup run, and Indianapolis\u2019 upcoming WNBA All-Star host duties in July\u2014complete with a Tamika Catchings mural<\/a> going up just in time for the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an incredible time for us in the city and the Pacers and Fever brands at the same time\u2014you can\u2019t fake or manufacture that type of energy,\u201d Beadlescomb said. \u201cWe always try to leverage the opportunities at hand and make the most of them, but sometimes that timing is so perfect and and the synergy provides just extra special opportunities, and we\u2019re there, so we\u2019re trying to cherish it, enjoy it, and maximize it for our city and our state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Following<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder took their NBA Finals matchup to Game 7, but just making…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,1997,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,66,14830,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-112819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-exclusive","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-oklahoma","12":"tag-oklahoma-city","13":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","14":"tag-oklahomacity","15":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-sports-marketing-news","18":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114717469213135114","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}