The 2024-2025 professional basketball season kicks off on October 22. Basketball season is a prominent window of opportunity for the field of promotions. This season is no exception. With the dedicated growth of professional basketball, this season will prove especially effective for promoting your brand. With only a few weeks to go, here’s what we have to look forward to from the league this season.
Finals Contenders
The Boston Celtics will once again be the team to beat this season. Now the winningest franchise in the league, Boston has a target on their back. Top teams will try to ensure the Celtics don’t clinch back-to-back championships, guaranteeing a competitive season.
In the Eastern Conference, their biggest competition will be the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers. These teams, a rivalry of their own between them, added big names in the offseason. The battle for the East will be bloodier than it has been in recent years.
The Western Conference is still stacked, meaning anyone could come out on top. The Oklahoma City Thunder is the top contender heading into the season, returning with their core players intact. The Dallas Mavericks added Klay Thompson in the offseason, ensuring one of the best offenses in the league will stay that way.
The Mavericks have a chip on their shoulder after fumbling the Finals to the Celtics — they’ll be hungrier than ever. And it would be foolish to forget about the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets, both capable of claiming the crown in the West.
This season will be ruthless, one for the history books, and you don’t want to miss out on the action. The professional basketball playoffs will begin on April 19, 2025, the Finals slated for June 5.
In past seasons, SCA Promotions has proven professional basketball promotions to be successful in increasing leverage, loyalty and market leadership opportunities. Use digital games to drive users to your site, engage fans at the arena with high-profile contests, or host your own watch parties, complete with attention-grabbing sweepstakes.
The Cup Tournament
The second annual in-season tournament, now known as the Cup, will begin on November 12, 2025. The inaugural tournament proved successful, and will undoubtedly be even more exciting this next time around.
Last season, the championship game of the tournament was “the most-watched non-Christmas NBA game during the regular season on any network in nearly six years,” (sportsvideo.org). Viewership peaked at 5.68 million viewers, meaning fans tore their eyes away from football during basketball season’s typical lull.
Every team has a shot at the Cup, and tournament games count towards the regular season. The league awards prize money to the best of the best, another incentive for all players to perform at the best of their abilities. The tournament acts as an appetizer before the league Finals in June — fans get a glimpse of who the big names might be at the end of the season.
Any team can take advantage of the big stage in this tournament. The Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton gained national recognition after last year’s Cup. Small-market teams and their fans really cared about these games, and the Pacers proved they should.
This year’s tournament can only upstage last year’s. Plan accordingly, and get involved in small-market fanship. Of SCA’s coveted strategies, solutions for leveraging the tournament include digital engagement, event-based rebates, bracket contests and Pick’em contests.
Event-based rebates boost visibility and brand loyalty with limited budgetary risk. An event-based rebate promotion gives customers the chance to have their purchases refunded based on a predetermined trigger. For example, a customer making a qualifying purchase during the tournament could receive a full refund on that purchase when a designated team wins X games in a row.
Global Games
Professional basketball is committed to evolving every single year. To expand their fanbase and business, professional basketball implements Global Games in their schedule.
Basketball has global appeal, and these games are a way for international companies to partner with the league for exposure. International fans are also becoming more prevalent, as well as international revenue as a result. The league is even considering adding new expansion teams outside of the United States and Canada.
Global Games 2024–2025:
Preseason
Oct. 4 & 6: Celtics vs. Nuggets in Abu Dhabi
Oct. 6: Raptors vs. Wizards in Montreal
Regular season
Nov. 2: Heat vs. Wizards in Mexico City
Jan. 23 & 25: Spurs vs. Pacers in Paris
Basketball is a top-viewed sport, regionally, nationally, and internationally. SCA Promotions is pleased to once again be offering professional basketball options in their core services for promotional strategies. We have a full season ahead of us, but that doesn’t mean we have time to waste. Contact SCA today to create your game plan for the season. The league is growing, and brands would be ill-advised to ignore the opportunities this presents.
About SCA Promotions
SCA Promotions has awarded over $228,000,000 in prizes since their inception in 1986. SCA is the global leader for promotional prize coverage, risk management and user engagement solutions that increase ROI, brand awareness and loyalty. With unmatched experience and an extensive selection of promotional services, SCA is the preferred partner of brands, retailers and marketing agencies around the globe.
For more information or further comment, visit https://scapromotions.com.
