Back in January, there was a lot of buzz around NBA star LeBron James signing a partnership with DraftKings. That included James specifically talking about “football season”:
👑 x 👑!!! Football season just got A LOT more fun. 🏈😁🙏🏾 Let’s go! @DraftKings #DKPartner pic.twitter.com/kyNaq3WBZm
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 31, 2024
Now, that partnership has produced its first TV ad. It features James and comedian/ESPN NBA altcast host Kevin Hart, with James talking about a “NFL offer,” Hart figuring he means to play (as has been discussed ad infinitum before) and roasting his age, and the offer actually being about a NFL bonus bet (bet $5, get $200 in bonus bets) for new customers:
DraftKings launched its first TV ad with LeBron James (who joined them as a partner in January) today. The ad features James citing a “NFL offer” and Kevin Hart roasting him about being too old to play in that league. pic.twitter.com/W8FsJE9yTH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 20, 2024
There are some good lines in there from Hart, including “Aren’t you a little too old to be playing football? They want somebody who can run a 40, not somebody that is 40!” and “How are you going to celebrate a win, give everybody butterscotch candy?” And that’s a pretty funny commercial overall. But this is maybe most notable for it being the first TV ad produced under James’ deal with the company, which DraftKings CEO Jason Robins was ecstatic about in January:
As per DraftKings, this is the first of three 30-second spots ahead of football season featuring Hart and James. We’ll see where they go from here. But it’s certainly significant to see that deal with James bearing some advertising fruit.
[Awful Announcing on X/Twitter]
