2023-2024 NBA Regular Season Updates: Social Value & NBA Finals Predictions
The 2023-2024 NBA season has been surrounded by heightened anticipation for rookie Victor Wembanyama’s debut. The 7' 4" French rookie was drafted first overall by the San Antonio Spurs in 2023 and made his debut for them on Wednesday, October 25th when they took on the Dallas Mavericks. Wembanyama’s debut topped the ranks for the most-watched NBA regular season opening night game in 11 years with 2.99 million viewers. He put up 15 points against the Mavs, along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Although the Spurs lost to the Mavericks 126-119, the Spurs came away with a win against the Rockets on Friday where Wenbanyama put up 21 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Safe to say that Spurs fans have a lot to look forward to this season when it comes to watching “Wenby”.
As for the rest of the league, there were some major offseason signings with Damian Lillard going to the Milwaukee Bucks to join Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul being traded to the Golden State Warriors. With these powerhouse additions, the Warriors and Bucks look to be in a solid position to make the playoffs. The Denver Nuggets, coming off of their first-ever NBA title, lost a few key players in Bruce Brown and Jeff Green. However, the Nuggets’ starting five looks as strong as ever and will likely remain one of the best in the league, which could give them a shot at going back-to-back.
The NBA regular season kicked off on October 24th with the defending champion Denver Nuggets defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 119-107 and the Phoenix Suns outscoring the Golden State Warriors 108-104. As it stands right now, the Denver Nuggets sit in first place in the league with a 4-0 record, followed by the Boston Celtics (3-0), Dallas Mavericks (3-0), Golden State Warriors (3-1), and LA Clippers (3-1). Although it still may be too early to tell which teams might make playoffs, the Nuggets are off to a rather hot start.
Which NBA teams have brought in the most value from social since the start of the regular season?
Since the NBA regular season began on Tuesday, October 24th, the league has brought in $10.5 million in social value across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The top three teams on social so far have been the Denver Nuggets with $2.2M in value and 3.9M engagements, the Golden State Warriors with $1.4M in value and 2.2M engagements, and the San Antonio Spurs with $1.1M in value and 1.9M engagements. After the Los Angeles Lakers ($1M in value), values for the remainder of the teams all fall below the $500K mark. The chart below shows the top six teams for value and engagements in the league so far this season.
Data is from the Trajektory agency platform from October 24, 2023 - October 31, 2023.
Which teams brought in the most social value for the 2022-2023 NBA regular season?
For the 2022-2023 NBA regular season, the league raked in $706.2 million in social value from Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The top three teams last season were the Golden State Warriors with $144.1M in value, the Los Angeles Lakers with $99M, and the Boston Celtics with $49.4M. Surprisingly, the Denver Nuggets ranked 17th in social value last season with $12.2M in value. After winning the 2022-2023 NBA Finals, it’s likely that they’ll draw in more value than they did last season. During the 2022-2023 regular season, the Denver Nuggets finished in 4th place in the league, behind the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Bucks ranked 9th in social value, the Celtics were 2nd, and the 76ers ranked 11th. In conclusion, better performance does not always equate to greater social value and vice versa.
As we head into week 2 of the 2023-2024 regular season, it will be interesting to see which teams continue their dominant start and which ones start to fall off. There were definitely some surprise upsets in last season’s playoffs, especially the Miami Heat, the 8 seed, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, the 1 seed, 4-1. This could be another exciting year for the playoffs and an action-packed season with some teams like the Warriors, Bucks, and Celtics beefing up their rosters by adding stars like Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, and Jrue Holiday. We’ll be keeping an eye on the league standings and social value rankings over the next few months to see which teams emerge as leaders.
Where does Trajektory come in?
Trajektory is the premiere sponsorship analytics vendor on the market. We make it easy to keep track of all of your brands, properties, and assets in one simple, user-friendly platform. We help teams keep track of valuations for stanchions, on-court ads, social, TV broadcast, LEDs, static signage, shoes, jerseys, and more. Our platform allows you to pinpoint top (and bottom) performing assets so you can report valuations and performance back to your brands at any point during the season and adjust strategies accordingly.
Not only can the Trajektory platform let you view your teams’ sponsorship assets and performance, but you can also compare and track the performance of other teams. This allows you to benchmark performance across all assets to see where your team’s valuations stand in comparison to other teams within your league or outside of it. With Trajektory, teams can ensure they can provide accurate valuations for their brands and agencies for full sponsorship transparency.
Interested in learning more? Get a demo at Trajektory.com/demo
