In partnership with

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Baseline!

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, make sure you subscribe so you get it straight in your inbox—I publish marketing and creator insights on basketball culture every Wednesday and Friday, and it's always free.

Let’s dive right into it…

CREATOR BLUEPRINT

The New York Knicks just won their first championship in decades, but did something unique to celebrate the moment.

Most teams would post the typical highlight videos, championship merchandise, and parade photos, but the Knicks extended the moment by tapping into an entirely different part of culture.

They partnered with a cohort of illustrators, comic book artists, graphic designers, muralists, digital artists, animators, and mixed-media creators to reimagine the championship through their own artistic lens.

This was a strategic audience growth tactic because championship moments are celebrated by entire cities and the sub-communities within that market.

There’s no other city in the world that’s a better example than New York City.

New York and the Knicks don’t just belong to basketball culture but are interwoven through art, fashion, music, design, and every creative community that makes NYC special.

By partnering with a crew of artists, each creator brought their own community, distribution channels, and cultural credibility to the Knicks’ celebration.

This helped extend the championship beyond traditional sports social media and into entirely new audiences as they reached art collectors, design enthusiasts, art students, and creative professionals.

There’s also an entire group of New Yorkers who may not have watched a single game all season but still want to be part of a historic New York moment.

That’s what makes this strategy so effective because the best sports marketing doesn’t just speak to existing fans, but it helps create new entry points into the fandom.

There’s also another layer that makes art uniquely valuable during championship moments, as championships create memories and art can help preserve them.

For players, coaches, and fans, these artistic interpretations become modern keepsakes that live far longer than a social media post.

Some become digital art that goes viral online, while others become physical pieces that hang on walls, sit in offices, and get passed down for years.

That’s why artists are such powerful partners for sports teams because they don’t just create content but cultural artifacts.

And when you’re celebrating one of the most important moments in franchise history, turning a championship into something fans can keep forever might be the smartest marketing move of all.

Want to get the most out of ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a superpower if you know how to use it correctly.

Discover how HubSpot's guide to AI can elevate both your productivity and creativity to get more things done.

Learn to automate tasks, enhance decision-making, and foster innovation with the power of AI.

Download the free guide

FREE THROWS

Sharing the tools and resources that I’m using this week:

📊 The State of Paid Newsletters - A comprehensive report from the team at beehiiv on pricing, conversion, and retention trends from thousands of newsletters monetizing through paid subscriptions.

🗣️ Wispr Flow - The AI tool that saves me over an hour a day by allowing me to type less and speak more, providing clear, polished writing in every app I use.

📧 The Social Juice - Receive the latest marketing news, trends, and campaign insights through a weekly email from the team at Best Marketing Newsletter.

We ranked 2,800 3PLs. Here are the top 100.

Every 3PL says they're the best. So we did the work. We ranked the top 100 in the country on the things that actually break or save a brand: peak season, accuracy, real support. Find out who made it, and whether your current one should have.

See the list

POST-GAME

Thanks for reading! Here are a few ways we can stay connected:

🤝 Partner With Me: I work with brands, athletes and creators across their brand strategy, digital media, creator programs, partnerships, and marketing growth. Interested in working together? Get in touch here.

📊 Be First: I’m building Future Blueprint Sports — the definitive discovery and intelligence platform for sports marketing and creator culture. Get early access today.

👋 Stay Connected: Enjoyed this newsletter? Share it with a friend or colleague. Also follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for more sports marketing and creator insights.

Thanks and see you later this week!

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻