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Happy NBA season kickoff to those that celebrate and welcome to this week’s edition of The Baseline!

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Let’s jump right into it…

MARKETING BLUEPRINT

This luxury sports club costs you $36,000 to join but it’s part of a new rising trend of niche sports membership clubs.

Since the pandemic, people have desired premium community spaces because they want somewhere they can work, socialize and connect.

Although big membership clubs like NeueHouse have just filed for bankruptcy and Soho House is drowning in debt, that isn’t stopping these founders from opening their own sports membership clubs.

Their businesses and marketing plans merge sport, exclusivity and a premium lifestyle design:

Kith just announced Kith Ivy with rooftop paddle courts and a spa by Giorgio Armani. Their membership fees start at $36,000 to join and $7,000 per year but you’ll get access to the first ever East Coast Erewhon, exclusive Kith product drops and a network of leaders across sport, lifestyle, design and fashion.

The Program just opened in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with a star-studded lineup of investors like Carmelo Anthony and Sue Bird. This members-only basketball facility has a full sized NBA court, daily basketball programming for youth and adults, as well as elite coaching and recovery rooms.

Even Kevin Durant recently expanded the members only playbook but digitally. He launched Boardroom’s Members Club for sports business leaders, creatives and entrepreneurs. Their events provide their community intimate moments to grow, learn and connect at sports biggest moments.

For today’s sports consumer, the real product is premium access, and the price is a paid membership in the brand's community and network.

FREE THROWS

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

❎ Handles Marketplace - Twitter/X is rolling out a beta platform that will allow you to claim eligible inactive usernames. This is a great idea, and I think every social media company should introduce it.

📑 Remove Paywall - Sometimes you just want to read one quick article without paying a full year subscription. Don’t get mad at me legacy media for sharing this :)

🪝 Transitional Hooks - Stop your audience from scrolling and keep them engaged with this collection of social media video hooks for reference and inspiration.

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FAST BREAK

Here’s what you missed this week:

🏆 Anthony Edwards and his team released the first-ever Believe That Awards, complete with mega-viral moments, including honoring Timothee Chalamet with "White Boy of the Year."

🏀 NBA on NBC has been getting fans excited for the network's premiere with coast-to-coast brand activations, including a 30 Rock pop-up complete with artist installations and an LED basketball court, and a retro '90s experience in LA.

🐐 Michael Jordan debuted his new series, "Insights to Excellence," during halftime of last night's NBA on NBC kickoff.

🎬 6-time WNBA All-Star as a player and 3-time WNBA champion as a head coach, Becky Hammon is having a new documentary produced by SMAC Entertainment and Odell Beckham Jr.'s 2463. The documentary will share her journey from being an overlooked player to becoming one of the most successful head coaches of all time.

1️⃣ BYU’s AJ Dybantsa is the top projected NBA draft pick, and he recently sat down with Boardroom for an in-depth interview about basketball and NIL.

📕 Jordan Brand partnered with Assouline to release "Air Jordan," a book that celebrates 40 years of the brand. It includes a foreword by Michael Jordan himself and features never-before-seen images.

🃏 Topps returns as the exclusive NBA/NBPA trading card partner, announcing that NBA rookies will wear debut patches in their first game and three players will wear a Gold NBA Logoman this season: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (MVP), Stephon Castle (ROY), and Evan Mobley (DPOY).

🤳 Top NBA creator Kenny Beecham and his digital media company, Enjoy Basketball, are partnering with NBC Sports to bring their popular basketball podcasts to NBCUniversal’s streaming channels, Peacock and NBC Sports NOW.

💼 A handful of NBA players recently made headlines with corporate job updates: Jayson Tatum was announced as Duke’s Chief Basketball Officer, Gordon Hayward was named Executive Basketball Advisor for Butler Men's Basketball, and Tracy McGrady joined huupe as Chief Innovation Officer.

⭐️ Justin Bieber has been going viral lately with his buckets in The League, an LA-based influencer league hosted at the offices of The Shoe Surgeon.

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POST-GAME

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy a great week of NBA kickoff games and I’ll see you back here next week.

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻