From Gamers to Lifelong Fans: How the NBA Can Captivate a 13-Year-Old Audience

Most preteens and early teenagers have lived their whole lives digitally informed. Video games have always been an entertainment option, gaming of all kinds has always been a valid form of competition, and technology has only improved as they’ve grown.

The rise of gaming culture has left traditional sports associations, such as the NBA, searching for ways to recapture their younger audiences and create lifelong fans. OS Studios, led by dynamic CEO John Higgins, is a leading video game culture agency that helps brands, publishers, and rights holders engage with the new generation of fans through savvy content marketing and strategy.

Higgins and his team are immersed in gaming culture, and Higgins has led OS Studios to a place of leadership in the world of creative marketing. The OS Studios team prides itself on living where Gen Z thrives.

“Whether it’s dropping into warzone with the squad or tower diving in League, we are meeting the gaming community where it is,” says Higgins. “As part of the Project Worldwide agency network, we are a hub of independent thinking and execution. We are guided by the mantra: ‘Do It First. Get In Trouble. Inspire Change.’”

There is no doubt that gaming is wildly popular among the pre-teen and teen consumer demographic. The community and competition aspects of gaming draw millions of participants year after year. Those gaming enthusiasts are either actively participating in playing or diving into the broader gaming culture through watching streams or engaging with social media accounts, popular gamers, or game-adjacent media and products.

To help build the next generation of fans, traditional sports outlets such as the NBA are working to harness the power of this new type of engagement, finding ways to weave the love of sports and team support into a rapidly evolving gaming culture.

Building the next generation of fans

If the popular Netflix series “The Last Dance” showed us anything, it’s that there is still a place for traditional sports fandoms. Anyone who is old enough to remember the historic rise of the Chicago Bulls during Michael Jordan’s heyday or watching Kobe Bryant dominate on the court can appreciate the electric pull of NBA games.

It’s hard to match the NBA for fan engagement. Consider the interwoven nature of sneaker culture, music, and celebrity that comes with NBA fandom, and it’s easy to understand how the NBA has managed to court lifelong fans from an early age.

Under Higgins’s guidance, OS Studios is helping companies and organizations — be it the NBA or other top-level brands — understand and leverage gaming culture. With years of expertise under his belt, Higgins helps traditional sports franchises reach young fans where they are today, whether on Discord servers, downloading the latest music on Spotify, or within the gameplay itself.

“The truth of reaching the next generation of fans is to show up where they hang,” says Higgins. “It’s in the game. It’s on Twitch. It’s YouTube comments. It’s the next sneaker drop or the viral sensation for the day.”

Understanding that the way to reach pre-teens and teens has shifted is the first step to creating lifelong sports fans.

Blending gaming culture and traditional sports

In 2018, the NBA became the first professional sports organization in the United States to launch its own esports league, the NBA 2K League, based on the famous “NBA 2K” video game, in which players compete in 5-on-5 games with one another. This blend of traditional basketball and gaming is a huge step forward in creating a new era of sports entertainment, integrating live events and events featured on streaming platforms for gaming.

“The NBA have always been trailblazers in delighting fans,” says Higgins. This focus on fan engagement has led to unmatched fan acquisition by the NBA. Many fans discover a team or a favorite player from an early age and remain loyal throughout their lifetime. “The NBA recognizes that 13-year-old fans are especially valuable, as it sets up a lifetime of fandom,” Higgins adds.

By creating the NBA 2K League, the NBA is emerging as a leader in this new landscape of fan engagement, and they have not stopped there. Recognizing that esports is just one facet of overall gaming culture, the NBA is moving forward and innovating within the gaming space — seeking out where the fans are and meeting them there.

The NBA has shown up within games by featuring famous players in games such as “NBA 2K24” and creating other pro-basketball adjacent games such as “NBA Street” and “NBA 2K Playgrounds.” There is also an official NBA Twitch channel and an official NBA Discord server, and with 13 being the youngest allowable age for both its Twitch streaming service and Discord, participation with these platforms is an ideal way for the NBA to engage with young fans right away. Other avenues, such as merchandise collaborations or partnering with popular gamers, allow the NBA to expand its reach with the pre-teen crowd.

By blending wide-reaching gaming culture and traditional sports, the NBA is recognizing the near-endless potential of the young gaming enthusiast market. Continuing to leverage gaming culture allows the NBA to tap into new markets and even expand its reach beyond the United States.

Whether it’s for the NBA and their interest in tapping into the pre-teen market or for other brands striving to get their head around gaming culture, OS Studios is teaching brands how to leverage the power of gaming culture instead of fighting it. It’s clear that gaming culture is not only here to stay but also in a state of perpetual evolution. Brands must stay aware of where their market is gathering, what media they are interested in, and how fanbases for traditional sports are being formed in this digital age.

Through the leadership of John Higgins, OS Studios is helping brands embrace the power of gaming culture. With their help, brands like the NBA can ensure that the thrill of the game can expand beyond the court and hold the imagination and excitement of even the youngest viewers.