From the NBA to MLS to the NCAA, AT&T anchors its sports sponsorship and athlete partnership strategies in its philosophy of “connecting people to greater possibility.” So when brand partner and hoops superstar Cooper Flagg was expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft (spoiler alert—he was), the company celebrated the athlete with a retail activation in New York dubbed the “Flaggship Experience” that highlighted the role that connection has played throughout his journey to the top.
In the five days leading up to the Draft, this year hosted June 25-26 in Brooklyn, NY, AT&T transformed its Times Square location into an interactive exploration of Flagg’s personal and athletic journeys, giving fans a chance to meet some of the most important people in his life (including his grandmother), and encounter important pieces of memorabilia, along the way. Not to mention the live dj sets, meet-and-greets, exclusive merch, photo ops and prizes.
In the past, AT&T has focused its NBA Draft sponsorship efforts on social media. So to find out more about its approach to digital engagement, and why IRL programming was added for 2025, we asked Sabina Ahmed, avp-sponsorships & experiential at AT&T, what went down and why it worked.
Starting with the brand’s philosophy.
AT&T leverages its ethos as a foundation for all of its sports sponsorship strategies. The Draft Week retail activation, and its social and digital extensions, were no exception.
“It’s making sure that we enhance our partnership with Cooper through a lot of work that was happening on the ground at our ‘Flaggship’ location in Times Square, but also tapping into what Cooper stands for, which is about connection and family,” says Ahmed. “And making sure that we’re tapping into that persona and what AT&T stands for, then connecting fans to that experience on the ground, as well as through all of our social channels.”
To showcase Flagg’s journey to the NBA, and the role connection played, the Flaggship Experience included activities and environments like the Cooperverse, where the athlete’s accolades were exhibited in eye-catching physical displays and high-energy content; a Kudos for Cooper engagement that let fans share their support through a custom, animated Times Square billboard graphic; a Stories of Connection display on the lower level that shined a light on the community that turned Flagg’s dream into reality; and a Make the Call experience featuring a special AT&T Blue rotary phone where fans recorded a message to celebrate Flagg’s newest milestone.
Sharing fresh content.
As much effort as AT&T put into the in-person Flaggship Experience, its social teams also placed a great focus on engaging fans from afar through digital extensions and exclusive social content that connected them to their passion for basketball, and Flagg himself.
“We want to make sure that we’re creating some excitement for those that are not in the city by putting out content never before seen, content behind the scenes, content that consumers and fans and AT&T customers can interact with online,” Ahmed says. “… So it’s important for us to make sure that we continue to keep that content fresh and meaningful.”
Building a long-term partnership.
AT&T’s relationship with Flagg began over the spring during March Madness, and has since been solidified as a longterm partnership between the brand and athlete. And that’s something the company takes seriously.
“This is not a one-and-done partnership,” Ahmed says. “This is our big moment with him, but our journey with him will continue… And we’re looking forward to continuing that partnership whether it’s through unique content that we push out through social or bringing him into our future experiences down the line. So we’re excited about where this journey is going.”
Fueling the funnel.
Between the in-person retail activation, OOH components, digital extensions and a robust social strategy, AT&T wasn’t just aiming to enhance its partnership with Flagg and the NBA, it wanted to drive consumers “further up the funnel,” according to Ahmed.
“We want to make sure that people are not just coming into our experience and interacting with our brand, but also engaging with our content from a social perspective,” she says. “Then as you go further up the funnel, we want to make sure that, ultimately, we’re driving brand love. Through the partnership with Cooper and our partnership with the NBA in general, we want to make sure that we are really changing hearts and minds and driving that positive brand perception and consideration of our brand and our products and services.”
Photos: Courtesy of AT&T
