The Harlem Globetrotters Bring Joy To The Court

Everybody recognizes the Harlem Globetrotters. The more interesting question is why people keep coming back, and why first-timers leave feeling like they just joined something. We talk with Bronwen O’Keefe, Head of Brand Marketing and Content, about the simplest strategy that is also the hardest to execute at scale: building fandom by making joy a two-way exchange between the team and the crowd.

Bronwen breaks down what “modern fandom” looks like for a 100-year brand, from the earliest barnstorming days to today’s packed arenas and always-on screens. We get into the Globetrotters’ hybrid identity as sports entertainment and live family entertainment, and why that mix creates a rare shared experience across generations. You will also hear how innovation is baked into the brand, not bolted on, and how signature moments evolved from necessity into an expectation fans now love.

Then we go practical: what content works on social and YouTube, why you have to “go where your fans are,” and how community programming and goodwill ambassador work strengthen the story behind the trick shots. Bronwen shares the thinking behind player nicknames, how recruiting looks beyond basketball skill to what is “in your heart,” and the fan-favorite “fifth quarter” that turns a great show into an unforgettable personal memory.

If you care about fan engagement, brand marketing, sports entertainment, or live event strategy, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a rating and review so more people can find the show.

Recorded Monday, June 1st, 2026
Host: Damian Bazadona, CEO & Founder, Situation
Guest: Bronwen O'Keefe, Head of Brand Marketing and Content, The Harlem Globetrotters
Producer: Peter Yagecic, Founder, A Mind at Work Consulting

https://situationinteractive.com
https://amindatworkconsulting.com

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Peter Yagecic 0:04

You're listening to Fandom Unpacked from Situation, the series where we unpack modern fandom with some of the brightest minds in sports and entertainment. I'm producer Peter Yagecic, and our host for today's QA is Situation CEO and founder Damian Bazadona. Our guest today is Bronwen O'Keefe, head of brand marketing and content for the Harlem Globetrotters, one of the most recognizable and enduring brands in live family entertainment. Bronwen, thanks for joining us. Damian, I heard you tried out to be a Globetrotter, but couldn't spin the ball on your finger long enough. Is that true?

Damian Bazadona 0:35

Okay, but what you left out was my remarkable dunking ability. Given them only 5'10, be able to do a 360 dunk, I think, honestly, I think everyone was actually quite impressed. Uh, Bronwen, you sit at the center of the and the Harlem Globetrotters brand is one of those rare brands that I feel like everyone recognizes. And I would imagine the the recognition is going to go across a range of different generations. When

Defining Fandom Through Joy

Damian Bazadona 1:05

you think about fandom today, how do you define what a modern Harlem Globetrotters fan actually is, given you guys are a hundred years in counting?

Bronwen O'Keefe 1:16

Thank you so much for having me today. And Damian, that's a great question. I think what a contemporary Harlem Globetrotters fan looks like is a lot like what a 100-year-ago Harlem Globetrotter fan looked like. And that is about uh feeling some kind of emotional connection to the team, to the brand. Um, we have one mission, our brand, which is to bring joy everywhere we go. And uh when we first started 100 years ago, we also wanted to experience that joy, right? These were black athletes that weren't given much opportunity to show off their skills. And uh, when the Harlan Globetrotters started, uh, they were really in a position to show this country what an exceptional black athlete could look like. And so that was an experience, experiencing joy for them. And then for the audience, what they recognized is that they were feeling joy watching the Harlan Globetrotters play. So uh with an audience that really spans two to 99, uh, what we think is the commonality between all of those demographics is everybody who sits in an arena and watches us play can both experience joy and give joy. And that's the dialogue between fan and team.

Why The Hybrid Format Works

Damian Bazadona 2:35

Well, I feel like you sit at a fascinating kind of intersection between sports, live entertainment, and family experience. Now, by the way, I would say most major live entertainment brands are calling or kind of going more towards family entertainment. I feel like everyone's kind of coming into your lane in a way. How do how do what does the hybrid identity allow you to do differently when you think about building audience connection, having the ability to kind of sit in different lanes per se?

Bronwen O'Keefe 3:05

Yeah, I mean, a couple of things. I would say the first thing is that I think you could argue that all of sports are entertainment because you are experiencing the feels while you're while you're watching a game. Uh, but I think what we really benefit from and have benefited from from a long time is that we truly have something to offer everybody. The person who is there to watch basketball and wants to see dunking and wants to see trick shots, they're getting their fill of that. And the person who's there because they want to laugh, because they want to see uh, you know, something that is just gonna give them a belly laugh, uh, that's what they're there for. And then we can give that to them too. And then there's the person who just wants to be in a place where they can experience something with their family, where every member of the family is having a good time. And that's a that's a rare thing to find these days. And I know something that uh, you know, every family today craves is that experience to be together, to create memories together that they want to repeat over and over and over again.

Legacy Built On Innovation

Damian Bazadona 4:06

I have to say, one of the reasons we really wanted to have you on this podcast as well is I think the ability for the fan to be seen and heard in a very unique way. I think you guys do better than honestly anyone in the space. And um that's that's remarkably hard to do, right? And it at the scale in which you do it. So a lot of legacy brands that spend a lot of time protecting the past, um, and they sort of struggle to evolve. And that's a challenge for a lot of brands. Like what made you great, right? Is like then it's it's it's easy to kind of gravitate back to that when it's versus like what is the future and the and the world has changed. How you approach honoring the history of the Globetrotters, which I again, you I know you've had your past hundred-year campaign more recently, while also making the brand feel relevant to a new generation of people that are just now being introduced to it.

Bronwen O'Keefe 5:00

So I think we go back into our core of what we do. When the Globetrotters started, they were barnstorming the Midwest. Um, they were, you know, five players and one uh coach slash, you know, owner together in a in a car, uh, you know, driving hundreds of miles and showing up in towns where in most cases this was the first time uh people were seeing uh a person of color. And uh the team had to go in there and uh, you know, show what they could do. And that again, that was them experiencing joy. And by doing that, they gave people the opportunity to feel the joy. But what they also did was give the opportunity to see the audience to be able to see themselves reflected in these players. Because at the end of the day, we're all humans. And I think that was probably a uh a little bit of a revelation for many of those folks in those small towns. Um, and then as the Globetrotters continued on and became more well known, uh, they had the opportunity to then show people in larger rooms what what being felt and seen and heard was like. Uh I think that gave them the ability to really think about innovating the game. They had to do things differently. Uh in many cases, because the team was so small. We had five players, there was no bench. Sometimes, if somebody was sick, the coach had to jump in. So when you look at some of the things that the Globe Trotters are known for, their uh dribbling, as an example, that really came out of necessity. That was born out of the idea that four players needed a rest, catch their breath for a moment. And we had players who could dribble, keep the ball out of the opponent's hand, giving their play, their teammates an opportunity to take a break. So that kind of innovation has always been at the core of the Globetrotters. The opportunity to interact with the audience, to create that emotional connection has always been at the core of the audience. And I think uh, you know, celebrating the legacy of that, uh, the best way to do that is really by continuing to do those things, continuing to innovate the game. We created a four-point shot. Uh now you see players, NBA players doing, you know, a half-court shot regularly. And uh, you know, the Globetrotters were there uh in the early days doing that and and really kind of pressing and pushing the sport to its limits. Uh so I think that's the that's the balance that we have is ensuring that we're celebrating what we've done in the past by continuing to do it in the future.

Damian Bazadona 7:35

Yeah, fair. And I see it. You can clearly see it. And it's kind of just in the DNA of the brand. Um, Peter.

Peter Yagecic 7:41

Yeah, uh,

First Game Surprise And Community

Peter Yagecic 7:42

so we got a couple of listener questions over at fandomimpact.com. This one, uh, I love this one because it not only speaks to my experience, but it also reaches back not the hundred years, but about 50 years in its reference. And so the question is, I know the Harlem Globetrotter's name from my favorite episode of Scooby-Doo as a kid, but not really what the experience is like in real life since I haven't made it to a game yet. What would surprise me most about my first game when I go?

Bronwen O'Keefe 8:09

Well, Peter, I think one of the things that would surprise you is how multi-generational the audience is and how multi-generational the experience is. Um, I think that you'd be surprised that there's so much commonality across all of those generations. That when the Globetrotters do a bit uh like the water bucket, and uh, you know, they're all expecting water to come raining down on them and it's confetti instead, everybody laughs. Everybody in that room is laughing, and you'd be laughing along with them. And finding that that kind of moment of union, that moment of collective, inclusive uh memory making is something that the Globetrotters have been doing, you know, since 50 years ago when they were on Scooby-Doo and since the 20s when they were first uh created. So I think I think you'd be uh surprised by how much you're feeling a sense of community uh and a sense of collective joy.

Damian Bazadona 9:13

Hey guys, Damian here. I just want to take a quick moment to say if you're enjoying this podcast right now, odds are you're in the business of selling live experiences. And if you don't know my team at the advertising agency situation, you most definitely should. Aside from just being an awesome group of human beings, they're a global team of professionals covering a brand base in sports, arts, theater, culture, museums, or any live experience that requires people coming together. Big, small, all shapes and sizes of brands. You can hit them up at the information below in the show notes.

Growing Beyond The Arena

Damian Bazadona 9:55

One of the things that stands out as I as I just kind of look at the Globetrotters brand is the fact that the you're beyond just a touring event. You you tour all over the world, and uh the number of people that see it is staggering. But now you've got TV, digital content, community programming. What have you learned if you guys go into these different lanes? What have you learned about growing fandom when the relationship with the audience has to live beyond the arena, which by the way is one of your core strengths, seeing and hearing fans, and now you're doing that across more multiple platforms than you might have done in the past?

Bronwen O'Keefe 10:33

Yeah, well, I think as anybody in any sector of business where fandom comes into play can tell you uh you got to go where your fans are. So our fans are not just showing up to our tour. They are on screens everywhere, whether that's a phone screen or a giant TV in their house. And uh we need to be on those screens and we need to make sure that we're programming those screens with the right kind of content for the right demographic. Uh so as an example on social and YouTube, we know what works really well are compilations of trick shots and amazing dunks and sort of the athletic prowess that the Globetrotters are known for. But they also want to see kind of behind the athlete. Who are these players? What are they, what else do they do? Who are they as people? Um, and one of the things that they get to learn about our players is our personas as goodwill ambassadors. Uh, so that's where we're out in the community, and we are working with dozens and dozens of different nonprofit organizations all across the world to do some good, to leave a place a little bit better than the way we found it. Um, and then we're showing up in stores, and they're out on the streets, and they pop into a store, and there's Globetrotter product there. Um, we have to be everywhere that our audience is in order for them to feel like they have a touch point to reach us. The tour is obviously the spine of how we show up for our fans, but you think about going on that analogy, all of those limbs that extend out. And that's where you have the opportunity to reach out and to touch somebody and to bring a fan in. And we want someday for the tour to be more successful than it's ever been, but maybe only contributing 60% of our revenue. And all of these other touch points that we've talked about are ways that fans can come into the brand and feel like they're part of something special.

Damian Bazadona 12:31

If you want to use any of the dunks that I did during my audition, you're more than welcome to use them for streaming rights. All approved.

Bronwen O'Keefe 12:37

You got it. Thank you.

Damian Bazadona 12:38

Talk to me a little bit. What is the, just for clarity,

Touring Scale And Global Roots

Damian Bazadona 12:41

what is the scale of the live, the touring? So how many tours, US international? Can we just talk through that briefly?

Bronwen O'Keefe 12:47

Sure. We have a pretty significant tour across North America. We tour roughly 250 games with another 150 to 200 throughout the rest of the world. We have been to 125 countries in the course of our 100 years. And uh we are going to be, I we I think we will have been on every continent except for Antarctica by the time we get to the end of 2026. Uh so we have been a global idea since 1951 when the State Department sent us uh to Berlin as a mission on a mission of goodwill. And we played uh in front of our largest audience, 75,000 people in the crowd. Uh, and that really set us off on, you know, becoming this very global idea. And certainly basketball is a global idea, uh, but for many, when we first started touring globally, uh, for many, much like our barnstorming days, this was the first time that people were seeing professional basketball getting played. And so when we still travel to places like France and Italy and Spain and Australia, the crowds go wild for us because that we brought them the idea of basketball in a professional uh environment for the very first time, and we're still delivering it to them every year.

Damian Bazadona 14:05

That's awesome. Uh, what is how would you describe you just gave a kind of an example? I'm just curious, I want to dig it a little bit more on that. Like kind of the international fandom different than the US fandom. Is it still kind of like nine to ninety-nine type thing? Which I mean, you know, I'm just curious how when you go international, and I guess obviously it depends on where internationally.

Bronwen O'Keefe 14:24

For sure. It it definitely does. We have the same, you know, very broad audience profile overseas that we do here in North America. And I'll I'll use like Australia as an example, where uh we almost always, every time we to we tour Australia, have to add shows because we sell out. And uh that love, uh that fandom coming from the Australian fan has uh developed over the course of years into all sorts of really awesome collaborations. We did a collaboration with the Wiggles a couple of years ago and uh made a music video with them that was fantastic. And right now we're actually uh sort of the faces of a new McDonald's campaign around a chicken burger that you dunk in a special sauce. And uh as the uh you know official dunkers of uh notwithstanding Damian's excellent dunking skills, uh, we've got a few of our own too. So that felt like a natural fit. And I think that really does speak to uh just how popular we can be um everywhere in the world.

Damian Bazadona 15:28

Yeah, I actually wish I could just touch the backboard. Never mind, uh dump. It did um I feel like is it probably the the the the global language of of Goodwill Ambassador, which you guys just do and is part of the ethos of your brand, is probably reflective in the entire experience. Um, Peter, you had a question.

Peter Yagecic 15:47

Yeah,

Nicknames And Building Personas

Peter Yagecic 15:48

well, well, before I get to the the next listener question, I did some Googling while you guys were talking. There is a basketball court at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, and my goal, if this podcast does nothing else, will be to have the Globetrotters make it to that last continent. Um, but the the listener question that we had was, and I love this. How do members of the squad choose their nicknames? Do they pick them or are they given to them by the team?

Bronwen O'Keefe 16:13

Well, I wish this was a one-size-fits-all approach, but it isn't. Some basketball players, when we go to recruit them, have nicknames that have been established for them for a long time. And we certainly want to give them the opportunity to bring that name along with them. There could be a lot of, you know, pre-built equity in that name too, that we don't want to miss out on. So that happens in some cases. In other cases, uh, we give a nickname and we do that really based on the personality that we see when those players show up at tryouts, and then again when they come to training camp. Um, and uh we we create a ceremony at training camp where we uh reveal the nicknames for the first time. And uh we had one great, great story a couple of years ago with a player, Sunshine, who uh went to her sort of naming ceremony moment and we revealed the name of Sunshine and she burst into tears and she said, That's what my grandmother calls me. And we didn't know that, but uh we just, you know, collectively all knew that this athlete just sunshine came out of her like crazy. And we see her on the court now and we see the way that fans um engage with her, and she couldn't, she couldn't be more filled with sunshine and she couldn't be giving more sunshine off to the fans. So uh there's always a great story for every player with their nickname, and uh we um we have fun with that. It's something that we really love about getting to know the player. Um and I'll and I'll add one other thing to your comment about the Goodwill Ambassador uh persona, Damian, which is that uh that's a big part of our recruiting as well, is really understanding who our players are. Um, what do they do in their community? How are they engaging with their families? Uh do they have something in their heart that compels them to do good in the world? Um, and and if the answer is yes, then we know that they're Harlem Globe Chatter material.

Recruiting For Heart Not Tricks

Damian Bazadona 18:05

That's interesting. Like, do it is can we just go into a tryout? What is that, what is it like though? That's so fascinating to me. Because I'm wondering, uh is that assumed by the people who try out, they know this up front? Like what percentage are surprised by that, right? Because you have to be a great basketball player. Like, talk just I'd love to talk a little bit about the how you recruit. That's fascinating.

Bronwen O'Keefe 18:24

Yeah. So we recruit in some ways a lot of the other, you know, every professional sports team recruits, right? We've got we've got some recruitment happening on the ground at all of the places you would expect to be: Portsmouth Invitational, NBA Combine, NBA Summer League, et cetera. So we're looking in all the pockets that every professional basketball team is looking for to find the best and the brightest. Um, but it is important. And our recruiter knows as he's engaging with those agents, as he's talking to the families and talking to the players, that they have to do more than just play great basketball. The one thing they definitely don't have to know how to do is ball handling, how to spin the ball on their finger. That's all stuff we can teach. Uh, what we can't teach is what's in your heart. How do you want to engage with people? What is you, do you want to entertain them or do you just want to play ball? Do you want to get down on your knees and spin the ball on a kid's hand and have them create this indelible memory? Or do you just want to dunk? And again, you've got to uh to be a globetrotter, I think you really have to have that soft spot in your heart that really wants to connect and touch with and um create that emotional connection with a fan.

Damian Bazadona 19:44

Hey guys, Damian here. If you're listening to this podcast, I'm gonna bet that you're probably thinking about how your team works and adapts right now in this new technology landscape. That's why the one person I always point people to is my co-host, right here, Peter Yajisik, and his company, a Mind at Work Consulting. They run smart, tech-infused workshops that help teams build new skills and actually put ideas into action. Peter is way too humble to brag, but I have no problems bragging for him. So if you're serious about what's next, talk to a Mind at Work Consulting. More in the show notes below.

The Fifth Quarter Fan Moment

Peter Yagecic 20:27

All right, I want to squeeze in one more listener question before handing it back to Damian to wrap us up. Um so, Brahman, you've talked about uh the joy that someone experiences in the surprise when they see their first game. Um this listener question asks something a little bit different, but related to that. So, you know, if I were to take my 10-year-old nephew to his first Harlem Globe Trotters game, what is the moment that you bet they'd still be talking about in the car on the ride home?

Bronwen O'Keefe 20:55

Well, I think some people might say it would be the dunk that Jumpin' did where he literally jumps over five other players, dunks the ball, and comes down the on the other side. Um, some people might think it's the trick shot that Wham does from the, you know, third tier of the arena with a hook shot that makes it in the basket. Uh, and some people might think it's the, you know, the comedy bits that we do. But I think what the 10-year-old will really walk away from is that moment that he got uh the players to autograph his ball or sign the back of his shirt or just give him a high five. We do something that we feel is really critical and important at every game, which is what we call the fifth quarter. And that's an opportunity that we have where everybody in the audience can come down, get a picture with the players, have the have an autograph, just have a moment with them. Uh, and that's something that's really unique to us is that level of access with the players. And let me tell you, the players don't want to leave until every single fan goes home happy. Uh, they sometimes they're out there for over an hour signing autographs and taking pictures. And that's their favorite part of the day.

Peter Yagecic 22:07

I love that. I I think I think more people should embrace the fifth quarter. I'm gonna I'm gonna use that. Uh Damian, you wanna wrap us up?

Damian Bazadona 22:13

Yeah.

Media Rights And True Fandom

Damian Bazadona 22:14

So Bron, but again, thank you for spending time with us today. Uh I am a full-blown Harlem Globetrotters fan, and I want to ask you a little bit about the future. So, and as you look ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunity for the for the Globetrotters to grow? And and before we answer, I mean I a little bit of the context to it, I suppose, is the media landscape's changing, consumer behavior is changing. There's a lot changing in the air at any given moment in time. And you have live events, content, partnerships, and all these other components. What what how are you thinking about that in terms of the change of the consumer behavior, where a Harlem Glow Trotters goes for his next hundred years? I'd just love to hear what's in your head.

Bronwen O'Keefe 22:52

Yeah. Well, I think um, like we talked about earlier, it's critical to get where every fan is, not just having them come to you. And uh I would say the biggest area of sort of business opportunity growth for us is around media rights and you know, making sure that we are on screens with our games, not just uh in arenas and really utilizing that as an opportunity to show fans what the experience is like when they come to a game and get them there to a game. Uh, that's on the business side. I think on the on the real sort of brand growth side, uh, you started us off talking about the uh the familiarity and recognition that people have for the brand. Familiarity and recognition are great. They don't always translate to true fandom. And I think true fandom is really born out of that feeling that you've got a dialogue with the brand, that the brand sees and hears and feels you, and you in turn get to do the same thing for the brand. Um, so growing the emotional connection we have with everybody who says, Oh, yeah, I know the Harlem Globetrotters, but turning that familiarity into true fandom is really where I think the growth for us lives.

Damian Bazadona 24:06

Yeah, well said. And I'm sure you guys will continue to have success. You don't get to 100 by accident.

Bronwen O'Keefe 24:11

So well, thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure talking with you both.

Peter Yagecic 24:14

Peter, you want to take us

Final Thanks And How To Support

Peter Yagecic 24:16

out? Yeah, that is gonna do it for this episode of Fandom Unpacked. Thank you, Bronwen and Damian. If you liked what you heard today, please check out all the great QA interviews we've done over at fandomunpack.com, or by searching Fandom Unpacked and following the series in your podcast Player of Choice. We'd also love for you to rate and review the show while you're at it. That really helps us find new fans. We're gonna be back in your feed in a couple of weeks for the entire Fandom Unpacked team. I'm Peter Yagecic. We'll see you next time.