In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, host Rich Battista, executive chairman at ADWEEK, sits down with Steve Koonin, CEO of the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena, to explore how marketing can transform a sports franchise into a cultural institution.
Steve shares how the Hawks built one of the NBA’s most engaged fan bases by focusing on experience, community, and audience relevance rather than relying solely on wins and losses.
He explains why adding “game experience” as a third business pillar creates loyalty that survives performance fluctuations, how a single piece of content can be repurposed into hundreds of platform-native assets, and why empowering creative teams leads to breakthrough campaigns.
The conversation also highlights the power of focus, community investment, and place-based marketing in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.
What you’ll learn:
- How to position game experience as an advantage when on-court performance lags
- Why audience denial is a business killer
- The three-pillar blueprint for sports marketing
- How to activate younger audiences through platform-native creativity
- Why focus is the marketer’s most feared word
- How to build long-term brand equity through controlled risk-taking
- The underrated opportunity in place-based marketing
- How to leverage community impact as a brand platform
About the guest:
Steve Koonin is the CEO of the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena, where he oversees the organization’s business, financial, and strategic operations. A lifelong Atlantan and accomplished marketing executive, he previously held leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company and Turner Broadcasting.
Since joining the Hawks in 2014, Koonin has transformed the franchise into a leader in fan experience, community impact, and innovation. He is a recipient of the Atlanta Sports Council Lifetime Achievement Award and SportsBusiness Journal’s Sports Executive of the Year.
Episode Highlights:
[05:09] Turn Experiences Into a Competitive Advantage — Steve Koonin explains that sports teams traditionally sell either hope for the future or sustained success, but the Atlanta Hawks built a third pillar: game experience. By making every game a cultural and entertainment event, the organization created loyalty that wasn’t dependent on wins and losses. This strategy helped the Hawks earn seven consecutive years as the NBA’s top game experience while maintaining strong attendance and fan engagement regardless of on-court performance.
[07:59] Multiply Content From One Big Creative Idea — The Hawks transformed a 24-hour Twitch livestream into 145 pieces of content distributed across multiple social platforms. Rather than treating content as a one-time event, the team approached it as a source of endless storytelling opportunities. The strategy generated more than one million views and helped the franchise lead the NBA’s social rankings. Steve highlights how maximizing each content investment can dramatically increase reach without requiring larger marketing budgets.
[09:37] Empower Teams to Execute Bold Creative Ideas — Steve credits many of the Hawks’ most successful campaigns to a culture that encourages action rather than excessive approval processes. Campaigns such as the OnlyFans parody and Ashley Madison promotion generated tens of millions of views because the marketing team had room to experiment. While clear guardrails remained in place, leaders avoided diluting ideas through endless revisions. The result was breakthrough work that captured attention and delivered significant earned media value.
[14:17] Focus Beats Trying to Reach Everyone — Drawing on lessons from both Coca-Cola and the Hawks, Steve argues that focus is one of marketing’s most powerful yet underused principles. Brands often weaken their impact by trying to appeal to every audience simultaneously. Instead, marketers should identify their most relevant customers and speak directly to them. By concentrating on specific communities and cultural connections, brands can create stronger loyalty, greater differentiation, and more sustainable long-term growth.
[16:00] Invest in Reachable Audiences First — Steve explains how the Hawks stopped chasing distant suburban fans and instead invested heavily in the local communities they could realistically serve. Rather than targeting people with weak connections to the team, the organization focused on building relationships with Atlanta residents and younger generations. This audience-first strategy helped create one of the NBA’s youngest fan bases and strongest attendance figures, proving that deep engagement often outperforms broad but ineffective outreach efforts.
