Basketball lovers can’t get enough of the game and National Basketball Association fans continue to show their enthusiasm for the sport and players; so much so that the NBA’s official YouTube account has surpassed 1 billion views.
Skilled marketing tactics
and social media savvy players helped make the NBA’s YouTube page popular, but the league’s social media success goes beyond YouTube. The organization was the first major athletic league to reach 5 million Twitter followers earlier this year and currently has a following of over 6.3 million. Â Last year, the NBA developed a plan to stream live minor league games on YouTube and has 325 million combined likes on Facebook, Twitter and Chinese networks, according to Mashable. It also helps the NBA can capitalize off of fans’ adoration for particular athletes and their athletic abilities and personalities. Their quirky personalities, classic dance moves and humor all play into the league and individual player’s social media prowess.The NBA was the first professional athletic
league to start its own YouTube channel in 2007. Since then, the league has continued to gain popularity. In celebration of the viewership milestone, the NBA created a mashup video of memorable dances and dunks from the past few years: