Road to Brandweek: Inside the Harlem Globetrotters’ Return to Television

The Harlem Globetrotters hadn’t had a television series since the 1970s—that is, until Keith Dawkins came along.

The iconic basketball exhibition team—founded in Chicago in 1926—has long relied on its live tours to engage a passionate fan base, with its legendary performances showcasing twists on traditional NBA rules. But to keep the century-old brand relevant, Dawkins, who joined the organization in early 2022 as president, set out to establish a new presence in a vastly changed media landscape.

“Content in all forms is really important for us because it allows us to have a 365-day-a-year conversation with the audience and activate on that in whichever shape we choose,” said Dawkins, who will be appearing at Brandweek on Sept. 12 to talk about the evolution of the brand.

TV was an obvious choice. After all, the CBS Saturday morning Harlem Globetrotters cartoon from the ’70s became a cult hit. The animated Globetrotters even palled around with Scooby-Doo and the gang in multiple Hanna-Barbera-produced movies after the show’s cancellation.

Though launching a successful TV series is easier said than done, Dawkins had substantial experience in the space.

In addition to running his own brand as founder and CEO of Rock Hill Media Ventures, the Globetrotters president previously spent nearly 18 years at Viacom, launching sports initiatives at Nickelodeon to cultivate strategic partnerships with leagues such as the NFL, Nascar and the MLS.

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.

Keith Dawkins, president, Harlem Globetrotters

So Dawkins tasked himself with bringing the Globetrotters back to the TV airwaves, introducing them to a new generation in what he told Adweek was a “seismic move for the organization.”

“It was an opportunity to tell the story of the Globetrotters off the court in terms of the Goodwill Ambassador work, the social impact work,” Dawkins said.

And that move paid off.

Scoring with TV audiences

The TV deal closed “quickly,” according to Dawkins, and the series went into production in summer 2022, debuting late last year.

In partnership with Hearst Media Production Group, the 30-minute show, Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward, airs during NBC’s The More You Know programming block on Saturdays and appears on NBC’s digital properties. It also brings in outside talent, with comedian Craig Robinson lending his hosting skills to the series.

To date, Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward reaches 800,000 viewers per week, with some episodes surpassing a million.

“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.