Albert Hall is President of HallPass Media and serves as Vice President of Business Operations at the Samsung NBA Summer League. Hall is a principal in VSL Properties, founders of the Vegas Summer League and acting CEO of the Lott IMPACT Trophy brand.
HallPass Media is a full service sports marketing agency specializing in brand consulting, digital and broadcast media, talent marketing and events and properties. Albert Hall has spent over 20 years on the front lines of sports marketing. Past experience includes: professional teams and leagues (Seattle SuperSonics, and NBA Summer League), agencies (Wasserman Media Group, Lagardere), event and property development (adidas Nations, the Lott IMPACT Trophy, the NBA Coaches Association) and brand integration and talent campaigns with adidas, Mercedes-Benz, Toshiba, Sirius XM, Sony, Samsung, Vitamin Water, Virgin Mobile, FOX Sports, CBS, ESPN, Turner Sports and others.
Podcast Highlights
4:54 – Bringing basketball back and the TBT tournament: “It’s been a major undertaking from the testing to the players, to the compliance and logistically it’s been a challenge and the team here has done an unbelievable job.”
7:27 – How are NBA players gonna feel in the bubble in Orlando: “The physical wellbeing is one thing, but the emotional toll and that psychological conditioning is really what they’re going to go through.”
18:53 – Starting the NBA Summer League: “I say it was six handshakes and a box of flyers. That’s truly 100% true on how this whole thing started.”
24:38 – Leveraging the Band Phish for the Summer League in Vegas: “Bottom line was we leveraged Phish into the first summer league. So there’s a connection with Phish. And so Chip was able to get us the deal on the arena.”
25:53 – Bringing the Summer League to Las Vegas: “Literally I was handing out flyers on spring break road and shaking people’s hands. It wasn’t the city that people didn’t want to go to. Everybody’s always intrigued by Las Vegas. Direct flights from anywhere, that was big. And over time, it now has become this 31st city for the NBA.”
27:52 – How did the Summer League grow with Technology: “Well, technology is a big part of our growth. We’ve done a great job with the research, the analytics, putting those into motion to help sell tickets to market, to drive interest league wide, to create social channels and social followings.”
28:12 – Getting LeBron to show up at Summer League: “People don’t understand the work that goes into getting LeBron James there to watch that game. And he doesn’t just show up. I mean, other guys show up, but Bron, you have to work that out.”
29:48 – Details of running the Summer League: “We work hard. I mean, Warren (LeGarie) picks up more trash than anybody in the gym. I’m the first guy there and the last guy to leave. There’s so much to it.”
41:53 – Adidas Nations: “The idea was to have, and this is one of the proud moments, but being able to do high school, college and pro under one roof all led by NBA coaches all with the mindset, one goal was, here’s what it takes to be a pro.”
47:02 – The most memorable performance in Summer League: “Packed house John Wall, I can’t remember the year right now, but he’s the number one pick in the draft. Everyone is there to see him. It’s standing room only. And a guy by the name of Jeremy Lin comes out playing for the Dallas Mavericks and kicked his butt, just took over the show.”
