Brands See Unrivaled Results when Playing on Disney's Court
Disney Advertising is decking the halls for NBA on Christmas Day with an incredible roster of advertisers across ABC and ESPN. ABC and ESPN are the exclusive homes to the NBA on Christmas Day, one of the biggest and most talked about days of the NBA season and for the first time ever every game will all be simulcast on both networks. Disney Advertising has locked in over 60 brands to bring holiday cheer to NBA fans across ESPN and ABC multimedia platforms.
“NBA Christmas Day has always been a tentpole event for Disney and we are thrilled to have so many brands see such great results from advertising on our networks,” said Danielle Brown, SVP, Disney Advertising Data Enablement & Category Strategy. “Year after year Christmas Day with the NBA proves to provide engagement from viewers that exceeds expectations and demonstrates that we are the ideal place for all advertising categories.”
State Farm® returns as the NBA Christmas Day Presenting Sponsor for all five games across ABC and ESPN. Viewers who saw State Farm’s standard advertisements during the 2021 NBA Christmas Day on ABC and ESPN were 99 percent more likely to engage online with State Farm compared to viewers who saw the average State Farm airing on a competitive network. According to EDO, a data and analytics company that measures predictive outcomes for Convergent TV, it would have required 25 ad units on the average competitive network to generate the same impact as just one standard ad on ABC and ESPN during NBA Christmas Day.
Coverage begins on ESPN with NBA Countdown presented by DraftKings Sportsbook at 11am EST. Toyota will once again be the Entitled Sponsor of Halftime in the 12pm & 10:30pm (EST) games. As a returning advertiser this year, both Toyota has seen remarkable results on the Disney networks in the NBA. EDO claims viewers are 72 percent more likely to search for Toyota after an ad airing during NBA’s 2022-23 regular season compared to competitive broadcast and cable. New for this year’s Christmas Day coverage will be the Energizer Halftime in the 2:30pm, 5pm and 8pm (all EST) games.
The new NBA alternate telecast, NBA in Stephen A’s World presented by Cricket, will run during the 12pm EST Philadelphia 76ers @ New York Knicks game on ESPN2. This show provides fans with a unique way to watch the game alongside Stephen A Smith and special guests. Joining him for this Christmas Day show will be Boban Marjanovic who is the star of State Farm’s newest commercial creative. Boban will appear in the 2nd quarter and test out his “announcing” skills.
Additionally, NBA Officials NBA2K, DraftKings Sportsbook, Google Pixel and Meta Quest will all have in-game integrations across ESPN’s Christmas Day slate.
Full ESPN and ABC Christmas Day Schedule
| Time (ET) | Telecast | Platforms |
| 12 p.m. |
Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks |
ABC, ESPN |
| 2:30 p.m. | Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks |
ABC, ESPN |
| 5 p.m. | Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics |
ABC, ESPN |
| 8 p.m. | Memphis Grizzles vs. Golden State Warriors |
ABC, ESPN |
| 10:30 p.m. | Phoenix Suns vs. Denver Nuggets |
ABC, ESPN |
Media Contacts:
Bukola Oyalabu | Bukola.Oyalabu@Disney.comKristen Smith | Kristen.T.Smith@Disney.com