GARY PAYTON’S BLOCK PARTY
SPEAK proudly collaborated with the NBA and welcomed NBA Champion Gary Payton to Sydney, Australia. Known as "The Glove" for his legendary defensive skills, Payton boasts a glittering 17-season NBA career and two remarkable Olympic appearances with the ‘Dream Team’, eventually earning induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Returning to Australia for the first time since the Sydney 2000 Olympics, SPEAK were tasked with generating excitement among NBA and basketball fans to unite the community and spark conversations about the NBA leading into the 2024 Finals Series.
Headlining the Australian tour was “Gary Payton’s Block Party”. Capitalising on Payton’s notoriety, the NBA partnered with TAB to host a basketball-themed event at Hotel Steyne, Manly that invited fans from across Sydney to enjoy exclusive meet-and-greet opportunities with Gary Payton himself, engaging Q&A sessions, photo opportunities with the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the chance to shoot hoops with local personalities and tune into the LA Lakers vs Philadelphia 76ers game.
Taking the lead on the PR rollout, SPEAK secured placements for the event across sports, news, lifestyle, and entertainment media. Pre-event we facilitated national news and radio media interviews which resulted in valuable, in-depth coverage that drove the Block Party messaging as well as nostalgic insights from Payton’s playing career, and analysis of the current NBA landscape.
To further entice sports fans to Gary Payton’s Block Party, we secured the attendance of local athletes and personalities with a genuine interest in basketball. As a result, we welcomed a diverse roster of talent who perfectly executed the brief of pre-event promotion, attendance, and creative social posts highlighting the event. Talent in attendance included:
Josh Mansour: Former NRL and Australian winger
Chloe Dalton: Triple sport athlete, AFLW GSW player
Kennedy Cherrington: Australian rugby union and NRLW player, Parramatta Eels prop
Kevin Pong: Former NBL1 player, TikTok phenomenon
Jason Saab: Manly NRL star
Scott Prince: Coach of the Brisbane Broncos NRLW team and TAB partner
Gary Payton’s Block Party was a huge success. Our team successfully amplified Gary Payton’s Block Party across various platforms, resulting in over 50 pieces of media coverage with a potential reach of over 8 million. The engaged athletes and creators amassed a reach of over 5.2 million from 49 social posts across Instagram and TikTok.
