--- title: @NBA YouTube’s Growth | 5th Hashtag Sports Awards description: The Hashtag Sports Awards recognize excellence in fan and consumer engagement across sports entertainment. image: https://www.hashtagsports.com/hubfs/awards/shortlist-2023/nba-youtube-growth-card.jpg --- # @NBA YouTube’s Growth [NBA](https://www.youtube.com/@NBA) 2023 Nominee ✨ - YouTube ![nba-youtube-growth-banner](https://www.hashtagsports.com/hs-fs/hubfs/awards/shortlist-2023/nba-youtube-growth-banner.webp?width=2400&height=1200&name=nba-youtube-growth-banner.webp) ###### Share [** ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hashtagsports.com%2Fawards%2Fshortlist-2023%2Fnba-youtube-growth) [** ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hashtagsports.com%2Fawards%2Fshortlist-2023%2Fnba-youtube-growth&text=%40NBA+YouTube%26rsquo%3Bs+Growth+%7C+5th+Hashtag+Sports+Awards) [** ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hashtagsports.com%2Fawards%2Fshortlist-2023%2Fnba-youtube-growth) ABOUT THIS ENTRY 2022 marked the NBA YouTube channel’s best year ever—surpassing 19 million subscribers and reaching 11 billion video views. This submission details the growth and innovation of NBA YouTube during the submission timeframe. How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”? The NBA YouTube channel’s exponential growth to 11 billion lifetime channel views during the submission timeframe is a testament to the quality, speed and consistency of content that the NBA creates for and publishes to the @NBA YouTube channel. We are reaching and engaging the global fans of the NBA, and our optimization of YouTube truly creates consumption at the highest level—resulting in 232.5 million watch hours from fans around the world during the submission timeframe. With the engagement success on the @NBA YouTube channel, and the goal of optimizing for new trends in content consumption between shortform, longform and ultra-long form content, the NBA continues to focus on quickly developing strategies to deploy around these trends to stay competitive on YouTube. ![nba-youtube](https://www.hashtagsports.com/hs-fs/hubfs/awards/shortlist-2023/nba-youtube.webp?width=2194&height=1090&name=nba-youtube.webp) Objective Since launching the channel in 2005, the NBA’s primary objective on YouTube has been to reach and engage fans across the world. The consistency and commitment to that mission, along with the attention to evolving data trends, has helped the NBA build one of the largest sports communities on the platform. During the submission timeframe, the compound effects of years of optimization continued in record-setting engagement and reach. In 2022, the NBA YouTube channel eclipsed 1.94 billion views—the most in a calendar year for the league. Additionally, as of February 2023, the channel exceeded 11.6 billion total views and is nearing 20 million subscribers—a testament to the commitment of engaging the global fan and audience. Strategy & Execution The NBA has taken a strategic approach to innovating the NBA’s YouTube channel by focusing on daily, monthly and yearly franchises to increase watch time and reach new audiences. Additionally, NBA YouTube is experimenting with new ways to engage with fans through on-platform tools such as Shorts, Story, Community and ultra-long form content (1-hour+). From multiple in-arena angles, to mic’d up access, to behind-the-scenes access vertical video in Shorts&mash;fans are able to dive deeper and learn more about the NBA through the NBA’s YouTube channel. One example of innovation is a new “ultra-long form” video franchise, where NBA YouTube publishes 1-2 hour videos featuring must-see content from the night, in addition to monthly Classic Games. The goal is to reach new audiences across devices outside of mobile&mash;such as connected devices - and increase watch hours. The NBA YouTube channel is leaning into optimizing the best content from around the league through short-form videos on Shorts and ultra-long form videos on the channel. **Organizations** - NBA **Credits** **[Andrew Yaffe](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewyaffe/)** SVP, Head of Social, Digital & Original Content NBA **[Bob Carney](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobcarney/)** SVP, Social & Digital Content NBA **[Ashley Atwell](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyatwell/)** AVP, Social & Emerging Media NBA **[Justin D’Apolito](https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-dapolito/)** Director, Social Content NBA **[Jenny Fischer](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyfischer012/)** Manager, Social Content NBA **Adam Fedorko** AVP, Social & Digital Content Creation NBA **[Leah Berry](https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-b-501a8748/)** Senior Manager, Social & Digital Content Creation NBA **[Adam Brody](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-brody/)** Manager, Social & Digital Content Creation NBA **[Carly Nevis](https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlynevis/)** Associate Manager, Social & Digital Content Creation NBA **[Maggie Engellenner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhengellenner/)** Senior Manager, New Media Content Partnerships NBA **[Mariah Bailey](https://www.linkedin.com/in/baileymariah/)** Associate Manager, New Media Content Partnerships NBA **[Kevin Esteves](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-esteves-1936aa3a/)** Associate Vice President, Content Strategy & Business Intelligence NBA **[Iveta Karapetian](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivetakarapetian/)** Director, Digital Content Analyst NBA **[Yisel Taveras](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yisel-taveras-a7bb0891/)** Associate Manager, Digital Content Analyst NBA **[Anthony Ottomano](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-ottomano-7b6a73126/)** Manager, Social & Digital Content Creation NBA **[Victoria Guerrero](https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-guerrero-218312166/)** Project Employee, NBA Social Content NBA **[Mesha Mosley](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mesha-mosley-a1140a150/)** Project Employee, NBA Social Content NBA **[Lauren Yelner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-yelner-4205a41a0/)** Project Employee, NBA Social Content NBA #### Celebrate in NYC Join us for the 5th Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 14, 2023 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.   [![RESERVE SEATS](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/834568/c79439a7-e53f-4aa9-9d60-2b68caf80d89.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/834568/c79439a7-e53f-4aa9-9d60-2b68caf80d89)