Nike and MTV2 Produce Street Basketball Series

Nike continues its expansion of alternative marketing methods, this times, teaming with MTV2 to produce Battlegrounds, a series examining international street basketball. Beginning on July 11, with repeats on MTV, each episode will pit two players against each other and profile them vignette style. Each episode will build to semi-finals and to a final in which each winner will receive $50,000 and a bunch of Nike product.

Nike Director of Content and Partnerships Adam Roth gives the PR spin saying, "Since the history of street ball is intimately intertwined with the growth and influence of hip hop on American culture, the partnership between Nike and MTV2 creates the perfect platform to tell the authentic 'Battlegrounds' story."

And showing the love for Nike's marketing dollars, MTV and MTV2 SVP of Programming Paul DeBenedittis added, "Street ball and music are inseparable, and it is our goal with Battlegrounds to explore these two massive cultural phenomena. Nike is the unquestioned leader in basketball and MTV2 is the fans' choice for music and youth culture, so this partnership will take the best of both worlds to reach and serve our audience."