Exclusive | On a new 'gameplay': Sony SIX's Prasana Krishnan

SONY SIX in association with The National Basketball Association (NBA) had recently launched NBA JAM an exciting new basketball cultural extravaganza. This unique event was an interactive traveling basketball festival which is a free event that combines 3-on-3 basketball, performances from top musical artists, an authentic NBA entertainment and an experience for fans of all ages. Launched in India in September the festival traveled across Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.

NBA Jam celebrates basketball and NBA culture with free fan activities including a slam dunk contest, basketball clinics, 3-point shootouts, skills challenges, and more. A technology boutique featured social media fan integration, an NBA photos and video wall, and a gaming zone for fans. The travelling festival also featured free concerts from leading artists along with the participation of Sacramento Kings Dance team, NBA Dunk Team and NBA Mascot  to keep fans entertained.

Adgully in an exclusive interaction spoke to Prasana Krishnan, Business Head, SONY SIX to understand his views on initiating such unique on ground events to speed the development of alternate sports in India.

The 3-on-3 tournament culminated with a National Finals in Mumbai on September 29 and the winning teams got a chance to compete against the NBA Legends for the first time. This time round nearly 500 teams, as against 400 teams last year, including the first women’s division competed to advance to the National Finals.
Two-time defending NBA Champion and eight-time All-Star Chris Bosh, of the Miami Heat, was on hand to help announce the 2013 NBA Jam schedule as part of a four-day trip to Mumbai during which he participated in a number of activities to help grow basketball in India. According to Bosh NBA Jam is a great event that brings the excitement and energy of the NBA to fans in India where much passion is seen for basketball and he looks forward to working with the youth while in India.

Speaking about the initiative, Krishnan said, “Basketball has always been one of the popular games among the youth whether in college or school. This game has always been one of those hyped games in movies etc but when it comes to real life it is not given that much importance in India whereas in other countries it is very well treated. So we thought of playing around that concept and initiate something on those lines. It is a fact that Basketball is a favourite with the youth but has taken a back seat due to certain limitations.”

“We have always observed the fact that infrastructure is easily available when it comes to Basketball and the participation will also increase if given a platform and support. This initiative will naturally give rise to a new game play in the world of sports. It is an exciting platform that pushes the envelope of sports from a mere competition to a cultural extravaganza,” Krishnan adds.

NBA Jam is one of its kind initiatives by the channel on the on-ground level. NBA Jam will engage both the passionate and casual fan with a mix of basketball and live entertainment. The target audience here remains the youth from 16 to 23 age group bracket (basically high school and college students).
SONY SIX, the league’s broadcast partner in India, created content around each event stop, integrating celebrities from the network’s top shows, and will air a 60 minute program showcasing the National Finals.

The channel has been airing and pushing various alternate sports viz.  basketball, wrestling etc.  By launching NBA JAM was the thought to promote basketball and thereby seed the development of alternate sports in India? Answering that he said, “Yes of course, this initiative too is a part of our thought of focusing on alternate sports in India; we have been focusing on different initiatives with an aim to stand out different and unique in the much growing and competitive market.”

NBA JAM has been conceptualized more as an on ground event rather than an on air programme. Elaborating on this concept, Krishnan said, “Yes the thought was to keep it a developmental programme rather than pushing it to be an on-air one. The aim was to reach out to more target audiences and to give them a chance to come and actively experience and participate in the game.”

Sharing about the mega marketing initiatives for their  on-ground property he says, “We made our presence felt in many colleges and schools around  cities like, Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai etc. in terms of creating more reach. There are print initiatives too but on-line and digital also played an important role and the strategies revolved around creating a buzz on the social media space, since again our core TG lies there.”
The channel has partnered with Adidas, Sprite and Indiantimes.com for the on-ground event.

NBA Jam is the rise of a new gameplay in the world of sports.  SONY SIX had brought this exceptional initiative to India for all sports aficionados.  With a remarkable format, NBA Jam will not only boost Basketball participation in the country, but will also strengthen the footprint of sports and drive viewership for NBA programs which are available exclusively on the channel.

Apart from reaching out to schools and colleges, there was huge ground activation in coffee shops, outlets etc in and out of famous universities. As mentioned earlier since the channel’s philosophy lies in focusing on alternate sports, the channel also launched another reality show called, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). The show recently came up with the 18th season. A reality TV series and mixed martial arts competition the show features professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, and follows them as they train and compete against each other for the prize i.e.  a professional contract with the UFC. The show also for the first time in its history will feature women participating in the competition and see’s Ronda Rousey and Meisha Tate dawn the roles as the 2 head coaches in the show.

Explaining the growth of UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship, since its inception, he said, “The sport is among the top 10 sports on TV. The sport has steadily made its presence felt among the audiences. We have seen the buzz growing and evolving over the years.  Now with TUF in its 18th season we see a lot of potential in the show for a country like India in terms of acceptance and viewership.”

SONY SIX has uniquely positioned itself in the sports broadcasting industry showcasing some of the world’s finest international sporting properties like Pepsi IPL, UFC, NBA, TNA, European Qualifiers to UEFA Euro 2016 , the 2018 FIFA World Cup and Scottish Premier League.

Since its inception SONY SIX has been successful in expanding its bouquet. Today it is a destination which has almost all the fine sports under its kitty. The channel recently acquired broadcasting rights for TNA wrestling too. SONY SIX  has always  targeted the youth of India through a mix of sports and entertainment and now with NBA JAM  the trend continues in keeping with the channel’s philosophy.