“What the helly ‘Burton?!”
When Rob49’s hit song WTHELLY dropped in March, just a few weeks before the 2025 NBA Playoffs, we knew we had to take advantage. With the Tyrese Haliburton name drop, we knew it was something we could uniquely use to produce surprising, scroll-stopping and impactful content to take full advantage of our 2025 playoff run.
What began as acquiring the rights to use the song in two pieces of content turned into 70 pieces of content throughout our playoff run. We had Rob49 sitting courtside at games, exchanging jerseys with Tyrese, being Mic’d Up and much more.
One of our main goals of our 2025 playoff run was take advantage of every opportunity and our partnership with Rob49 showcased how we turned our run to the Finals into a huge success on social.
Securing the rights to WTHELLY was just the beginning. We turned that conversation into a partnership that lasted through our entire run to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
It was an organic connection as Rob became a staple at games and allowed us to meet fans at the intersection of sports & culture to create viral moments. His presence became part of our identity during our run as Tyrese hit memorable shots in every single series – a series-winning layup in Round 1 against the Bucks (and we were in the locker room as they blared WTHELLY after the win), a game-winning 3 against the top-seeded Cavs in Game 2, an improbable stepback jumper to send Game 1 of the ECF against the Knicks to overtime (a game we’d win in OT) and finally a game-winning jumper in Game 1 of the Finals against the Thunder.
It was the perfect storm, connecting our brand to the song and leveraging it to make memorable moments even more impactful for fans.
In 70 posts that featured Rob49 or his song on Pacers social, we amassed 21.5 million video views and 1.9 million engagements, Tyrese Haliburton had 4 of the most clutch shots in NBA playoff history during our run, we also won our first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years, yet it was our Round 1, Game 2 hype sizzle featuring WTHELLY that was our best-performing social post during our playoff run.
Our partnership with Rob49 helped us generate national buzz that we’d been seeking. The anthem gave fans a soundtrack for our playoff run that helped us reach relevancy beyond basketball circles. It elevated our profile, strengthened Tyrese’s star power and created a playoff atmosphere that felt fresh, youthful and culturally relevant.