The archive · Content & Film · Marketing decision · 2022–2023
NBA's Hoop Cities tells Europe's basketball story through its own cities
Each episode of Hoop Cities visits a European city, its players and fans, wrapped in a Saatchi & Saatchi visual world that gives the game local context.
NBA
What it had to solve
Basketball runs deep in European cities, yet the sport is usually covered through a US lens. NBA wanted to demonstrate the impact the game has in each European community and reignite the latent passion many fans still hold.
How it works
NBA's European fans know the league's stars, but coverage of the sport rarely told Europe's own story. Hoop Cities set out to demonstrate the impact basketball has in each European community and to reignite the latent passion many people there still have for the game.
Every episode of the series showcased a new European city, introducing its NBA players, fans and love of the sport. Saatchi & Saatchi created a visual world for the series that encapsulates the NBA's affection for Europe and how the league supports each city it features.
By telling basketball through city culture rather than US highlights, the series gave European audiences a story with local stakes. The work is preserved in D&AD's awards archive as part of the 2023 Annual.
Why it lands
- A city-by-city format kept every story specific instead of melting Europe into one generic market.
- Featuring local NBA players and fans let each community see itself inside the league's narrative.
- A shared visual world tied the episodes together, so the series always read as the NBA's.
- Cultural context gave the sport roots in markets the US-centric coverage treated as distant export audiences.
What it did
The series gave Europe's basketball culture a story told from inside its own cities, putting the sport in context beyond the usual US coverage. The work is preserved in D&AD's awards archive as part of the 2023 Annual.
What you can take
To win a market, tell its story rather than broadcast yours: local players, fans and city culture make a global league feel like it belongs somewhere specific.
Since then
Hoop Cities joined the NBA's push to grow fandom beyond the US by treating European cities as stories rather than markets. D&AD's awards archive preserves the series and the visual world Saatchi & Saatchi created for it; the city-as-hero format is the part other global leagues and brands can borrow.
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