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Welcome to The Baseline and your New Year’s Eve read before the countdown.

Today, we’re looking ahead at our predictions for brand marketing and the creator economy within basketball culture as we approach 2026.

Let’s get into it…

MARKETING BLUEPRINT

Heading into 2026, clear patterns are forming across basketball culture that point to where marketing and creators are headed next.

Today’s newsletter outlines the trends we expect to shape the year ahead:

🛜 Creator-Powered Distribution Networks - Brands will build their own networks of creators, fan pages, and theme accounts as a parallel narrative distribution layer alongside their PR and comms efforts.

🎙️ Interactive Live Streams - The streaming era will evolve into live formats, such as game or talk shows, that foster real-time engagement and audience interaction.

🗣️ Internal Creator Hires - Marketing teams will prioritize hiring creators in-house or on retainer to integrate organic social content best practices directly into the organization.

🔬 Power of Micro-Creators - Hyper-local voices, such as AAU moms and rec league hoopers, will become influential storytellers because audiences relate to people they can see themselves in.

🔀 Personalized Curation - In an AI-saturated world, curators with real taste and trusted relationships will matter more than brain-rot algorithms and generic prompts.

📲 Social Account Networks - In addition to the main account, brands and creators will build multiple platform-native pages tailored to specific content formats and niches.

⭕️ Athlete Hubs - Social platforms will drive discovery, but athlete hubs and private communities will become where fan loyalty will actually engage, subscribe, and buy.

🧱 NIL Brands - Creator-athletes will prioritize launching their own brands, products, and media platforms as a path to equity and longevity rather than relying on endorsement deals.

🤖 AI Humanization - As AI-generated content becomes overwhelming, the real advantage will be the human layer of editing, context, and voice that make outputs feel more intentional and less robotic.

🏀 Basketball Communities - Niche communities like pickup basketball groups and basketball viewing clubs and will become the next social sports wave.

🤳 Personal Branding - When anyone can generate content, personal brands rooted in expertise, unique perspective, and credible experience will stand out from the noise.

🧰 Fast Systems - The brands that win will have marketing systems built to ship quickly, empowering teams to act on moments without layers of approvals and delays.

These aren’t isolated ideas but they’re the signals brands and creators should be building around as we enter the new year.

Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays

Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.

Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.

Learn more.

FREE THROWS

To end the year, I’m sharing my entire toolkit and resources that I use every day:

🐝 beehiiv - Easily grow and monetize your newsletter with built-in tools for creators, referrals, and ad sponsorships.

🗣️ Wispr Flow - This AI voice assistant turns your speech into clear, polished writing across any app on your computer or mobile device.

🎬 CapCut Pro - Edit short-form videos fast (on your desktop or mobile device) with templates, effects, and automation built for creators.

💰 Quickbooks - Easily track income, expenses, invoices and taxes so you can focus on building your business and brand.

💻 Figma - Design decks, social posts, and brand visuals collaboratively in one easy-to-share space.

🤣 Memelord Technologies - Create the latest trending memes with lightning-fast tools built for creators and brands.

📲 Stan Store - Sell digital products, services, and links all from one simple storefront built for creators.

🔐 1Password - Keep every login and password secure and shareable across your devices.

🧠 Notion - Run your entire business from one workspace—projects, ideas, and content all in one place.

🤖 ChatGPT - Brainstorm ideas, write copy, and streamline your workflow with an AI assistant.

🍌 Nano Banana Pro - Design high-quality AI images for decks, concepts, and creative assets in minutes.

Reply with your go-to tools and let me know what am I missing?

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POST-GAME

Thanks for reading—I’ll see you back here in 2026!

And if you enjoyed reading today’s newsletter, please share it with one friend.

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻