#67 NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum: The Future of Sports & How the NBA Engages over 2B People

What this episode is about

Mark Tatum, NBA Deputy Commissioner, discusses the evolving landscape of sports, emphasizing the shift from traditional competitive focus to entertainment-driven strategies aimed at engaging over 2 billion global fans. He highlights the integration of technology, including the metaverse and esports, as essential components in enhancing audience experience and expanding the NBA's international reach.

Key takeaways

• Basketball: the world’s simplest sport—cut a crate, find a pole, and you've got a game!
• As participation surges globally, basketball bridges cultures—proving it’s more about heart than just hoops.
• The NBA isn’t just a sport; it's a lifestyle brand, blending entertainment with athleticism for mass appeal.
• Accessibility is basketball's secret weapon; no fancy gear needed—just passion and a place to play.
• From China to the courts of Brooklyn, basketball's allure lies in its universal spirit—play anywhere, with anyone.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Lynn Tomman (Host) · 9 min speaking
• Mark Tatum (Guest) · 21 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Mark T., Clorox
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Basketball Africa League
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Basketball Africa League
4. 15:00 – 20:00: NBA 2K
5. 20:00 – 25:00: NBA 2K

Notable quotes from "#67 NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum: The Future of Sports & How the NBA Engages over 2B People"

• And Columbia Lynn tomman hi everyone it's Lyn toen welcome to another episode today I'm excited to be with Mark T Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of the NBA…

  about Mark T. · at 0:21

• Who grew up in Vietnam and a Jamaican dad he was born in Vietnam and grew up in the US he previously worked as a marketing executive for Pepsi Proctor and Gamble and Clorox and…

  about Clorox · at 1:30

• And the NBA Global I think it really started in the early days of the game of basketball Lynn our game was founded by a Canadian Dr James naith now he founded it in Springfield…

  about James Naismith · at 5:02

• Is Africa a continent with a billion people fast growing economy a young population and in basketball we launched our first ever League outside of North America the basketball…

  about Basketball Africa League · at 9:41

• How do you see Esports and virtual basketball well Esports is a very important opportunity for us our NBA 2K game is one of the most popular games in the world something like…

  about NBA 2K · at 17:29

• Have done around having an impact in the communities that they are involved the NBA has a long history of really standing for certain principles of equality of inclusion of…

  about NBA · at 23:53

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Mark T. — Person · Main guest · 2 mentions · first at 0:27
  Interview subject discussing the NBA’s global growth, fan engagement, esports (NBA 2K League), and leadership.
• James Naismith — Person · Referenced historical figure · 2 mentions
  Cited as basketball’s founder and as an early driver of the sport’s international spread via the YMCA.

Companies & orgs

• NBA — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions
  Primary organization discussed, focusing on its global expansion, entertainment strategies, and community impact.
• Clorox — Company · Referenced company · 1 mention · first at 1:40
  Mentioned as part of Mark Tatum's previous work experience before joining the NBA.

Products & tech

• NBA 2K — Product · Case study · 6 mentions · first at 17:34
  Discussed as a key component of the NBA's esports and virtual engagement strategy.

Places & events

• Basketball Africa League — Event · Strategy · 2 mentions · first at 9:52
  Highlighted as a significant initiative for expanding the NBA's international footprint and economic impact in Africa.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 welcome to the three takeaways podcast which features short memorable conversations with the world's best thinkers Business Leaders writers politicians scientists and other newsmakers each episode ends with the three key takeaways that person has learned over their lives and their careers and now your host and board member of schools at Harvard Princeton and Columbia Lynn tomman hi everyone it's Lyn toen welcome to another episode today I'm excited to be with Mark T Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of the NBA basketball has become one of the world's major Global Sports one of the trends in sports is entertainment driven strategies it's no longer about just winning a game on the court it's about entertaining and engaging people it's about both growing the audience and enhancing the overall experience different sports have different strategies from Mega Star singing at the start of physical

0:58 sporting events to Octan intermissions and shows beyond the latest game or score people are interested in what their favorite athletes and teams are doing off the court as well and there is also the metaverse and world of Esports and gaming I'm excited to find out how marks Ed the future of basketball Esports gaming virtual reality and entertainment driven strategies to engage and enhance the audience Mark has a multicultural and international background he's the son of a Chinese mom who grew up in Vietnam and a Jamaican dad he was born in Vietnam and grew up in the US he previously worked as a marketing executive for Pepsi Proctor and Gamble and Clorox and then he moved to Major League Baseball where he was responsible for corporate sponsorships he then took a similar job with the NBA and did such a great job that he was promoted to Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer one of his many successes has been

2:00 expanding the NBA League's International footprint welcome Mark and thanks so much for our conversation today Lynn thank you so much for having me it's a pleasure to see you it is my pleasure Mark Mark what do you love the most about basketball the thing I love the most about basketball Lyn is it's just a simple easy to understand game and it's a game that is accessible to all I grew up in Brooklyn New York and in my neighborhood our basketball court was not that close the nearest schoolyard was several blocks away but I remember some of my most fond memories around the game of basketball is as a child on these late summer nights we would actually take a milk crate cut the bottom out of the milk crate Carton and put it up and tie it to the lamp post and we would play till all hours of the night during the summer and those are some of my most fond memories of the game of BAS basetball that you don't

3:01 need to have a full court you don't even need to have a basketball who you can be creative with it and that's the thing that I love about this game what do you see as the major Trends in basketball and in sports I think the major Trend around the game of basketball is just accessibility and participation because it's so easy to understand because it's so accessible we're seeing growth not only here in the US but around the world world and it's a game that's being played by boys and girls which opens it up to everybody and again I think because of the Advent and the popularity of our players who are some of the most recognizable people and athletes in the world it creates this demand and it creates this interest in the game of basketball and so what we're seeing Is the participation rates again not only outside the United States but inside the United States continues to grow because it is a safe healthy sport to play and

4:04 it's accessible to everybody the other things that we're seeing around the game of basketball is that it teaches you such great life lessons it teaches you how to be a team player it teaches you resilience it teaches you the benefit of hard work because you can actually see your work paying off the more times you practice shooting free throws as an example the better you get at it and so those are some of those important life lessons that parents want to instill in their kids and that I see even as adults now playing the game of basketball those things really do translate into your everyday life of the four major US sports soccer basketball football and baseball soccer is and always has been International but football and baseball remain almost entirely us Sports how did you succeed in making basketball and the NBA Global I think it really started in the early days of the game of basketball Lynn our game was founded by

5:11 a Canadian Dr James naith now he founded it in Springfield Conneticut at a YMCA but as part of the YMCA he was on this mission to export the game around the world and the roots for example of the game of basketball go back to China back in the late 1800s shortly after the game of basketball was created back in 19 in the early 1900s 1921 I believe the Chinese had an Olympic basketball team that participated in the Olympics and so because of his mission to expand the game of basketball around the world it got exposed to different countries in different areas around the world and it's been exposed for over a hundred years in many many countries and so I think that helped contribute to it where the game was not necessarily viewed as an American sport but it was viewed again when you look at China for example it's viewed as a Chinese sport because people have been playing it now for over a hundred years in the country and so

6:19 it's endemic to countries around the world but I think the other reason it's so popular ly is because what we talked about earlier which is the accessibility of the game it doesn't require a lot of infrastructure it doesn't require a lot of space you can play the game indoors you can play the game outdoors and you can play by yourself or you can play with 10 people on a court at the same time so I think that flexibility allows for the game to grow and develop and be played around the world which is why it's so popular and then what I'd say in more recent years with the Advent and the accessibility of the game through different forms of digital media and traditional media it's exposed people even more to the game which has led to Elite athletes in particular markets around the world aspiring to play in the NBA and then those players have now inspired a whole new generation of young people who want

7:20 to eventually play in the NBA and take up the game of basketball so the Yao Mings of the world the hakee elijuan of the world these players and now the yanis anmo from Greece they're inspiring the next generation of young people in these countries to take up the game of basketball and to want to follow in their footsteps to play in the NBA or the WNBA Mark how do you compare basketball to other sports such as soccer soccer is the most popular sport in the world it's a global sport as you mentioned earlier and a lot of the same characteristics right just easy to understand accessible a little bit different in that it's harder to play in small spaces it's not as fun to play by yourself in soccer but a lot of great characteristics around the game the health and safety benefits as well but again I think the game of basketball is a sport that is equally played by boys and girls around the world and I think there's no Stigma for

8:24 example of girls playing basketball we have a women's professional basketball league as you know the w NBA that is increasingly also becoming more International and so we've now created this opportunity for elite young ladies to Aspire to play professionally and make a living playing the game of basketball a game that they love and so again our game has a lot of amazing benefits to playing the game of basketball that keep you healthy keep you fit and teaches you some great life lessons how do you see the future of international basketball in the NBA the future of international basketball is bright when you think about our fan base alone there are for example China 300 million fans of the NBA in China that's more almost as much as the entire population of the United States of America and so when you think about the number the vast billions of people outside the United States and outside of

9:23 North America that are potential fans of the NBA and potential players in the NBA that talent pool we think that the future is just Limitless quite frankly for the opportunities for the game of basketball around the world one of the areas that we are focused on right now is Africa a continent with a billion people fast growing economy a young population and in basketball we launched our first ever League outside of North America the basketball Africa League this year and tipped off in Rwanda where we brought 12 teams from 12 different countries into Rwanda to compete in this first ever African League that we've been involved in and so just a tremendous success and we're seeing also there the inspiration that that league in Africa is providing to the Youth of the continent and we're seeing participation numbers starting to tick up there and the thing that we're most proud of is we're starting now to show

10:24 Sports as a potential to drive economic opport unities to drive jobs to drive economic growth in these different countries normally Sports in Africa is view is competition and it is a competition it wasn't necessarily viewed through this business opportunity lens but we've seen in the United States and we've seen in Europe and other parts of the world that Sports is a big driver and provides the fuel for growth of retail development and Commercial development around Arenas and infrastru structure and so we're now seeing projects like that pop up l in Africa for example in kagali Rwanda there's a brand new Arena that was built there in anticipation of a league like the basketball Africa league and NBA games coming over there and around that Arena development now they're building retail development and Commercial development and residential housing and it's really becoming the epicenter if you will of

11:28 kagali similar to what the Staple Center has done in Downtown LA and we've seen other projects like that Arena developments that help Drive Economic Opportunity in a particular area That's so exciting how do you think about sports and entertainment and how do you think about enhancing the experience for your audience it's something that we're so focused on in a lot of ways Sports is entertainment we all have just a limited amount of time in our day and how we use that free time how we use that leisure time there are more and more demands on each and every one of us and opportunities for each and every one of us to spend that free time that we have whatever that time seems to be shrinking every year and every day and every month and so the competition for that time whether it's movies whether it's short form content and platforms like Tik Tok or Instagram those are all things that are consuming people's times and sports

12:31 is a big part of that and so for us we have to always make sure that our game continues to be relevant continues to be fun continues to be exciting continues to be engaging otherwise people are going to like I said people have too many choices or have a lot of choices right now on how they spend their time and our job is really focused on making sure that we can put forward the most compelling game experience making it accessible to as many people as possible in a fun and exciting way how do you keep people engaged with the NBA and basketball both on and off the court I think there's so many great stories in our league and I think it's telling those stories I think people like relating to hearing about the players hearing about some of the challenges that they had to overcome to achieve this incredible level of success hearing about the hard work that they put in becoming the best at what they do

13:36 and giving people inspiration and hope that if they put in hard work no matter what they decide to do that they can also achieve a high level of success I think it's those stories I think it's exhibiting the fun that people have in competing and the joy that our players for example have of playing this wonderful game of basketball and showcasing that in a way that get people excited about it and so I think it's all those kinds of things and then making it accessible Lyn so we have to be where people are I mentioned those platforms of Tik Tok and Instagram and social media we have on the NBA now more than two billion followers likes through all forms of social media amongst our teams amongst our players amongst the league and all those things are designed to engage fans and no matter what platform you are using or what kind of content you are creating whether it's short form long form we want to be there and we

14:36 want to be there telling authentic stories about our league and that people can relate to and so that's all the ways that we're going about doing that two billion people engaged with the NBA is phenomenal congratulations mark thank you thank you yeah our players are some of the most engaging popular players from a standpoint on social media our teams are the league is and so we're so fortunate to have people again the two billion followers and likes around the world who are interested in what's going on with the game of basketball and the players primarily who are involved in can you break down that two billion to give a sense of how those people are engaged with the NBA yep about 70% of them are outside the United States and so what they're doing is they're viewing content and they are following the video highlights from games they're following off thec Court content that's posted by our

15:36 players and by the league when Steph Curry warms up for example and he's taking shooting practice and he's making ridiculous circus shots that people have never seen before those are the kinds of things the behind the scenes access that spikes engagement and gets people saying wow that's really an incredible feat but it's also our game content people love watching the highlights of the games I think our game really is ideally suited for those clips and those amazing highlights and those amazing moments in a particular competition and so when you can extract some of those moments put them out in the universe through social media it really does elicit strong reactions are there any particular platforms that are more important than others where are you getting most most of those two billion followers from it's across the board Lynn it it's across the board it's across Facebook it's across Instagram and Snapchat and Tik Tock you

16:40 name it in many of the international platforms too the 10 cents the bite dances the Qui show in China so it's all of these different platforms around the world that is making that content available to our fans no matter what platform they're on and so there are clearly some of the platforms have higher engagement than others but within those platforms the NBA sees a disproportionately high number of engagements compared to the other content that's placed on those platforms and the two billion people those are for the NBA and all the individual teams correct and the players as well so it's the NBA family between the league the teams and the players nice way to think about it as the NBA family how do you see Esports and virtual basketball well Esports is a very important opportunity for us our NBA 2K game is one of the most popular games in the world something like over 110 million games have been sold on NBA 2K

17:46 and so here you are you have this really engaged audience of people who love playing this video game and that translates into fandom and so what we did is we decided that we want to create a league around that and when you think about the opportunity around Esports and the accessibility of that you need what I'd call athletic ability but it's a different sort of athletic ability to play in in ort in eame right it includes some other forms of dexterity if you will but you can play it virtually everywhere and what we've seen is and we're seeing that now is we're seeing the growth of Esports internationally and in this NBA 2K League that we launch we've got Now 23 teams and it features each team and these are professional players Lynn who are actually paid to compete in this league and they play five on five in a variety of regular season games tournaments and playoffs and our goal is to make this league

18:49 truly a global League we actually added a team from China we recently announced that we're adding a team that will compete in Mexico and we're talking to teams as we speak in places like Europe and in other places in Asia and Australia about joining this NBA 2K league and again the beauty of this will be truly a global league and we're doing it now we're Chinese teams are competing against Mexican teams competing against us teams and there are very few opportunities now where you can do that because of the barriers of travel but in this virtual Esports world you can actually do that which is bring bringing our world really closer together and creating a community of these Gamers who are competing with each other around the world so interesting the video game audience as you know has surpassed in revenues the film industry and the music industry combined how important a source of interest in the NBA do you think that

19:52 these video Gamers or egamers will be very important as you mentioned the demographic of these Gamers these many times are not people who are watching traditional television they're consuming their content digitally for example our games our NBA 2K Games we stream those games on Twitch as an example which is a big platform for video games and for gamers to follow and I will tell you that when you look at our audience the playoffs of those games were up 33% in terms of unique views per stream we had over a million unique viewers that watched the 2021 finals of the 2K League we've had more than 2 million combined followers on social media platforms Facebook Twitter Instagram of the NBA 2K league and then just to give you another sense of the context here the NBA 2K League alone that content has generated more than 518 million video views 518 million video views across all of our NBA and 2K League social media

20:59 platform so that includes Facebook Twitter Instagram twitch YouTube so this is a really important driver of how people are engaging with the NBA and being where they are right being on those platforms where these gamers are with an NBA 2K lead product and game it's really driving engagement amongst that generally hard to reach audience and probably a very different audience from the people who attend games in person it is that's the great thing also about the NBA is you have these young Gamers and you also have attendees people in the sea Suite who love the game of basketball so it really is a game that appeals to every type of demographic every age group every gender and I think that's one of the reasons that the game of basketball is as popular as it is Mark you've thought a lot about leadership as the Chief Operating Officer of the NBA how do you think about leadership I think leadership is

22:08 one of those things that in a lot of ways you learn with experience I've been working now since I graduated from undergrad for about 30 years and I've had the opportunity to work for people that I considered amazing leaders and I've worked for people where I said okay I'm going to try not to do that and so I think it's an evolution if you will of your experiences the one thing that I found has been so effective is being able to listen being able to truly truly listen to truly truly observe and I always take the time to understand from people to get their ideas and to get their thoughts and to get their concerns because there's a lot of really smart people out there and I try to learn from those people and adapt to the things that I'm hearing incorporate that into my style I think respect is also an important attribute of leadership you need to respect people to be able to truly hear them and to be able to get

23:13 them to listen to you if someone doesn't respect you because they don't feel like you respect them you're never going to have a productive conversation or have the ability to accomplish a whole lot together whether it's with a partner or whether it's a colleague and so I think those are some of the important things that I've learned along the way about leadership before I asked for the three takeaways you'd like to leave the audience with today Mark is there anything else you'd like to mention that you haven't already touched upon well the only other thing I'd like to mention about the NBA specifically is just the things that we've done and our players have done around having an impact in the communities that they are involved the NBA has a long history of really standing for certain principles of equality of inclusion of diversity and really walk in that talk going back to the early days of Bill Russell or Kareem

24:13 Abdul Jabar or Oscar Robertson these were role models for generations of people including today's players and athletes across all sports who stood up for what they believed in who stood up for racial equality and I I think today's players as an example have carried on that tradition and there have been several things that we have done as a league collectively with the Players Association over the last several years and really in this last two years or so in terms of establishing an NB Foundation which was a $300 million commitment over 10 years by our 30 teams in partnership with the NBA Players Association that would help create opportunities and economic opportunities for the black community and creating jobs and we've already issued millions of dollars of Grants to organizations that are helping to bridge that wealth Gap in the black community we also established a national basketball social

25:14 justice Coalition that was done again in conjunction with our players and the Players Association to then try to support legislation and enact change in different areas that are important so Civic engagement and voting rights and Criminal Justice Reform and we've gotten behind through that Coalition different Federal legislation and local legislation that would actually make change and affect change in these different areas and so it's such an important thing for individuals for corporations to organize resources in these areas to make the United States and to make the world a better place so that's the one thing I would say I want to make sure that we covered off in this time together and I know Mark that that's been very important to you and that you have led the NBA's social justice task force yes thank you Lyn yeah you know it's as you mentioned at the beginning my dad is black my mom is

26:15 Asian and so I'm fortunate that I've had opportunities in my life to get a great education to get great jobs and I just want to make sure that organizations are doing their part individuals are doing their part to make sure that that opportunity exists for everyone in this country Mark what are the three takeaways you'd like to leave the audience with today as I think about some of the important things that have been important to me in my life in my career the three takeaways are one invest in relationships whether that be personal I've got a fantastic family my lovely wife and our two sons and my immediate family were really tight and I think it's important that you invest in relationships not only personally but also at work with partners because of some of the things that we talked about earlier having a really good understanding of where other people are coming from trying to put yourself in

27:12 other people's shoes and really listening can benefit you in so many ways and benefit your organization or benefit your family in so many ways so invest in relationships the second thing is think Global and I've had that experience now with the NBA of being able to travel work outside the United States and see the impact and the power that a game like the game of basketball can have on communities whether that is like I said driving Economic Opportunity in Africa or bringing people together that otherwise wouldn't come together around something as simple as the game of basketball so it's a big world out there but it's getting smaller and I think we all need to start thinking globally and the impact that we have on others around around the globe and then the last thing is adapt and innovate the world is changing rapidly as we speak every day every minute every hour and I think it's important that for us as

28:11 Leaders we have to continue to understand that and continue to adapt continue to innovate think outside the box don't get set in this is how we've always done it always think about how can you do things better how can we evolve how can we really focus on fans customers consumers whoever your target audience is try to listen and understand from them so that you can make the necessary adaptations that you need to make either in your own personal style or in your corporate approach so those are the three takeaways I would have mark thank you so much for our conversation today I Come Away with a new appreciation for you and all you've done for the NBA and for basketball thank you so much Lyn it was pleasure talking to you today if you enjoy today's episode and would like to receive the show notes or get new Fresh weekly episodes be sure to sign up for our newsletter at 3 takeaway.com or follow us on Instagram Twitter and

29:11 Facebook note that 3 takeaway.com is with the number three three is not spelled out see you soon at three takeaways tocom

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "#67 NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum: The Future of Sports & How the NBA Engages over 2B People"?

Lynn Tomman (Host), Mark Tatum (Guest).

What is "#67 NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum: The Future of Sports & How the NBA Engages over 2B People" about?

Mark Tatum, NBA Deputy Commissioner, discusses the evolving landscape of sports, emphasizing the shift from traditional competitive focus to entertainment-driven strategies aimed at engaging over 2 billion global fans. He highlights the integration of technology, including the metaverse and esports, as essential components in enhancing audience experience and expanding the NBA's international…

What is mentioned in this 3 Takeaways episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Mark T., NBA, Basketball Africa League, NBA 2K, James Naismith, Clorox. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "#67 NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum: The Future of Sports & How the NBA Engages over 2B People"?

The episode runs 29 min; the transcript is about 4,698 words in 29 timestamped sections.

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