UnitedMasters and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have announced plans to expand their existing collaboration across Africa by leveraging the popularity of music, basketball and the NBA on the continent to showcase African musicians and positively impact African youth.
The collaboration is expected to empower independent musicians by providing UnitedMasters artists with the opportunity to have their music featured across the league’s social media channels in Africa.
The relationship will connect artists with NBA Africa, resulting in access to African audiences and the ability for artists to amplify their music to fans across the continent.
Officials said the announcement builds on the NBA and UnitedMasters’ relationship that began in 2018 and comes as UnitedMasters this week expands its platform in Nigeria, where NBA Africa also has a dedicated office that supports the league’s basketball and business development initiatives in the country, including grassroots basketball development programming and social responsibility efforts that improve the lives of Nigerian youth and families.
“Our collaboration with the NBA has been since day one a great articulation of our company at its best: finding the shared value between sports and music, to the benefit of both,” said UnitedMasters CEO Steve Stoute.
“As UnitedMasters expands into Africa, deepening our collaboration only makes sense: the audience appeal of each is a huge opportunity for the other. Together, we’re ensuring breakthrough Nigerian artists can access a global stage in an instant, while at the same time allowing the league to align directly with the tastes and ambitions of their next two billion fans.”
In November, NBA Africa held the second edition of “NBA Meets Art” in Lagos to celebrate basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture.
For this year’s edition, NBA Africa collaborated with Nigerian artist Dennis Osadebe to curate an installation that focused on the essence of community and togetherness that basketball fosters.
Last February, several Nigerian superstars – Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer Burna Boy, GRAMMY Award-winning singer and Oscar-nominated singer and producer Tems, and rapper and singer Rema – headlined the NBA All-Star Game halftime show with an Afrobeats-themed performance.
NBA games and programming are available in all 54 African countries, and the NBA has hosted three sold-out exhibition games on the continent since 2015.
The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and NBA Africa, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that will tip off its fourth season in March 2024. Fans can follow @ NBA_Africa and @ theBAL on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
