The new NBA All-Star format drew mixed reviews from both viewers and players, but sponsors still bought into Warner Bros. Discovery’s vision for the weekend.
According to Jon Diament, Warner Bros. Discovery’s evp of advertising sales, the company sold out the entire weekend’s ad inventory for NBA All-Star 2025 on TNT, truTV, TBS, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights, and Max. WBD’s revenue for the event increased 8% year over year, while the number of brands spending $1 million or more was up 24%.
While the weekend served as a farewell to TNT’s coverage of NBA All-Star festivities, with TNT Sports’ broadcast rights deal with the league ending later this year, it was also a reminder that the company’s evolving contribution to the league will look similar to its current incarnation in many ways.
“We are rooted in the next generation of NBA fans through Bleacher Report and our social footprint, so it’s not just a TV product,” Diament said. “We have huge activations with concerts and fan festivals, so it’s really a 360 relationship that we have with the league… [and] when we go to our partners—such as Kia, Amex, Google, State Farm—they take advantage of all those elements, and they don’t just buy our linear commercials.“
On its face, NBA All-Star had a rough weekend with ratings.
All-Star Saturday Night drew just 3.4 million viewers, its smallest audience ever, as Caitlin Clark declined a 3-point contest invite and Mac McClung won his third slam dunk title in a field largely devoid of stars. In addition, Sunday’s revamped, tournament-style All-Star Game, with its target score, multiple stoppages, and 20-minute tribute to TNT’s Inside the NBA team of Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal, drew 4.7 million viewers across WBD platforms. That’s second only to the 2023 game as the smallest audience in the event’s history.
Even players who enjoyed the format were less than thrilled with the pauses.
“Get them outta here.”
— Jaylen Brown 😂pic.twitter.com/lj16X0OrV1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 17, 2025