From record-breaking merchandise sales to top-tier viewership numbers, the NBA can always count on their Filipino fans to deliver.
Filipino fans are globally known to be among the NBA’s biggest audiences in the world. The Philippines is often at the top of the league’s viewership lists and the NBA Philippines Facebook page alone already has six million followers. This fact has been known for years.
But, in the 2023-2024 NBA Season, the Filipinos went above and beyond to prove their undying love for basketball.
At the end of the 2023-2024 regular season, the NBA announced that they reached several record-breaking numbers for their social and digital engagement, as well as higher merchandise sales, in countries across Asia-Pacific — of course, including the Philippines.
So, here are the different ways Filipino fans helped the NBA break numbers this year.
Always watching
During the regular season alone, the Philippines was ranked No. 2 in average viewership and watch hours outside of the United States, and just behind Australia in No. 1.
This should come as no surprise to Filipinos, but this was a big deal for the NBA, especially as this season marked the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament — now named the Emirates NBA Cup — which achieved 74% more viewership on NBA League Pass than non-cup games.
On top of this, there were more Filipino fans watching the regular season on the league’s dedicated streaming platform, NBA League Pass, as average viewership on the platform increased by 54% in Asia-Pacific, its highest in the region.
Always on social media
This season, the NBA had a higher social media engagement, and the Philippines played a hand in this.
The league collaborated with many celebrities and influencers in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines who had a cumulative reach of 90 million followers, by sending these internet stars to NBA games and events.
But aside from the celebrity-driven content, the Philippines also had its own influence in driving the NBA’s social media. In December 2023, the NBA held its first-ever month-long celebration of the league’s fandom in the Philippines, known as Republika ng NBA Month. Through this, the content on NBA Philippines’ social media platforms generated a record 116 million video views throughout the month.
This was the highest count of any country in the region. On top of this, NBA Philippines’ six million followers on Facebook also happens to be the most of any regional NBA Facebook Page.
Always showing support
This season, Filipino fans did not shy away from showing their true fan spirit both online and in person. Through to February 2024, the NBA Stores in the Philippines, located in SM Megamall and SM Mall of Asia, recorded an increase in foot traffic by more than 175% year-over-year.
But it wasn’t just foot traffic that increased — Filipinos love to shop and rep their favorite players and teams. With this, the NBA Stores in the Philippines, as well as the online store, saw a doubling of sales, year-over-year.
Indeed, the NBA can always count on their Filipino fans to show off their hoops spirit.
Banner image from NBA Philippines on Facebook.
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