How can sponsors leverage the NBA’s new All-Star Game format?

The NBA is betting that three is better than one, and that 40 is better than 211.

In this modern sports-business world, those seem like savvy bets – and opportunities for the many stakeholders.

This past week, the National Basketball Association and National Basketball Players Association announced that its 2025 All-Star Game, to be held February 16 at the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center in San Francisco, will be not just one game, but rather a three-game mini-tournament. For each of the three games, two semifinals and a championship incorporating four eight-man squads, the buzzer will sound when one team reaches or surpasses 40 points.

This innovation came in response to the 2024 edition, which ended in a 211-186 thrashing of the Western Conference by the Eastern Conference and generated such a whirlwind of negative reactions that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services nearly placed “defense” on its endangered species list.

In our world of short attention spans and social-media character limits, the notion of three 40-point sprints sounds far more appealing than a 211-point marathon. And it should excite those sponsors planning activations for the weekend.

Among the companies involved in the NBA’s All-Star Weekend are:

• AT&T sponsors the All-Star vote as well as the NBA All-Star Practice and the NBA HBCU Classic, both of which will occur on February 15 at Oakland Arena, the Warriors’ former home. The vote now carries additional intrigue because while the ballot will still produce five “starters” each for the Eastern and Western Conferences, those starters won’t necessarily be teammates come gametime. Fans following the vote tallies can try to think along with the TNT broadcasters who will draft the teams on a live February 7 telecast. And the day-before practice will now present fans and viewers with the first chance to see the players interact with their temporary teammates.
• State Farm serves as the title sponsor for “All-Star Saturday Night” the evening before the game. If fans are more engaged by the format of Sunday’s finale, then it stands to hope they’ll be more into the skills competition (dunking, three-point shooting and so on). On Friday night, Ruffles will sponsor the All-Star Celebrity Game at Oakland Arena.
• Castrol owns the title sponsorship for the Rising Stars Game on Friday, February 14. This surely will draw more eyeballs than the past given that the winning team of first- and second-year players will advance to Sunday’s big stage alongside the three clubs of voted and selected All-Stars for the mini-tournament.
• Fitting for a Northern California event, Kendall-Jackson will offer “brand new and exclusive wine experiences” over the weekend. For Sunday’s main event especially, the mini-tournament and its between-games breaks should push spectators to test the concessions in ways they might not over the continuous play of one four-quarter contest.
• Yet to be named, and what seems like a slam-dunk: Will each of the three games feature a Most Valuable Player, and then will there be an MVP for the entire tournament? How about an all-tournament team? What enterprising corporation will present these players with their honors and prizes and showcase their product?

This new format already has some detractors among the veteran players, but as no less an authority than LeBron James said, “something had to change” after last year’s festivities. Change can reward the creative. We’ll see who, beyond the mini-tournament winners, prevails.