“You can get a show to launch, but the audience will decide if they like it or not,” said Dawkins. “It’s great in terms of its impact in ticket sales on the tour that we saw, but I would argue it’s helped pivot the perception of the Globetrotters. The content conversations that have opened up, the sponsorship conversations that have opened up … its visibility and success has been a big part of that.”

The series is currently in production for Season 2 (following a Daytime Emmy nomination), with Season 1 landing on Telemundo this fall.

Just the beginning

Though the Globetrotters tour several months throughout the year, a priority for Dawkins has been creating touch points for audiences all year, engaging fans who can’t make it inside the stadiums.

The team has new sports marketing ventures, including a backpack line with Sprayground, as well as new apparel, gaming and NFT deals.

“It’s an example of a consumer touch point, but also a brand extension where people perceive and think about the Globetrotters in a very modern way,” Dawkins said.

But the majority of the brand’s work is focused on its corporate social responsibility initiatives, highlighted in Play It Forward. This includes three pillars: health and wellness, education and community empowerment.

Playing it forward

Fans can see the team’s humanitarian philosophy in action through its partnership with Red Nose Day, the annual fundraiser to end children’s poverty, and new initiatives with Microsoft focusing on underserved Black and brown communities around the globe.

“[The Globetrotters] were born out living in a world where being inclusive was not at the top of the list 100 years ago, and the Globetrotters still found a way to persevere through that,” Dawkins said. “We need to honor our legacy of being an inclusive brand.”

Dawkins is still focused on “dialing up” the tour in 2024, making it bigger than it was and expanding internationally.

“I want the Globetrotters to be relevant in ways that they haven’t been in 30 or 40 years. I want to create pathways for anyone on planet Earth to have a touch point to the Globetrotters, and we can’t do that if the tour is the only way,” Dawkins said.