The French National Basketball League (LNB) has formalised its partnership with LaSource through a new five-season agreement. Following an initial phase focused on transforming its digital platforms and structuring its content, the partnership will now focus on sustaining interest in the competitions and strengthening relationships with fans. The clubs will play an important role in this next phase.
Following two seasons of collaboration, the French National Basketball League (LNB) and LaSource have committed to working together until 2031. The two organisations have signed a five-season framework agreement that consolidates their existing initiatives while expanding the partnership into new areas, including content, digital platforms, data, CRM, services for clubs and commercial development. Behind this agreement lies a clear ambition: to turn the interest generated by players, matches and events into more sustained engagement with French basketball.
The partnership is already delivering tangible results. During the 2025/26 season, the Betclic Élite social media accounts recorded 11.1 million interactions, an increase of 109%. This momentum is also reflected across the LNB’s digital platforms. In September 2025, the League’s website recorded a 180% increase in unique users compared with September 2024. A year later, growth accelerated further: in September 2026, unique users increased by nearly 400% year-on-year, with more than 300,000 visiting the website during the month as competitions resumed. These results point to a significant expansion in the LNB’s digital reach and its ability to engage basketball audiences.
“We want to inspire people to follow a player, then their club, and then the league. It is this connection that we are seeking to strengthen. The new agreement with LaSource enables us to continue this work over the long term, alongside our teams and our clubs,” explains Fabrice Jouhaud, Chief Executive of the LNB.
Bringing the league to life between matches
A key part of the work has focused on how the season is brought to life through storytelling. Emerging talents featured under the ‘Rising Stars’ banner, club rivalries and the race for the play-offs have become central editorial themes. Formats such as ‘Press Conference’, ‘Top Performances’ and ‘We Tried It Out’ provide recurring features built around the players, teams and stories that make the competition compelling. A match result is just one part of the story; the personalities and narratives surrounding it provide additional reasons for fans to follow the competition.
This is the principle behind the Content Factory established with LaSource: anticipating key moments, coordinating contributions from teams and preparing formats that can be reused throughout the season. Behind the published content lies a structured approach to editorial planning, production and distribution.
The same approach extends across the League’s competitions. According to the same report, the Élite 2 social media accounts recorded an increase of approximately 56% in cumulative followers over the 2025/26 season.
This consistency also creates opportunities for commercial partners. In its LNB case study, LaSource highlights six editorial formats that have been commercialised. By establishing recognisable, recurring content formats, the League can create sponsorship opportunities that go beyond one-off promotional messages. Content therefore plays an increasingly important role in the LNB’s commercial development.
Turning initial interest into lasting relationships
Nearly 50,000 new registrations were recorded in the LNB database during the 2025/26 season. The next step is to turn this growing audience into a more direct and meaningful relationship with the League. The focus is now on improving data quality, managing communication consents and progressively enriching user profiles, particularly through information such as favourite teams.
These insights should enable the LNB to segment its audiences more effectively and deliver more relevant communications. Examples include welcoming new registrants, promoting events, supporting ticketing campaigns, highlighting competitions and sharing club news with the audiences most likely to be interested.
The challenge is no longer simply to attract traffic, but to guide audiences more effectively towards the priorities of the League and its wider ecosystem.
CRM is becoming the link between the content that generates interest, the platforms that track engagement and the campaigns designed to deliver greater value. Current initiatives include database segmentation, newsletter development, welcome journeys for new registrants and initial campaigns linked to the League’s events.
This progression from content to services and direct engagement also explains the breadth of the partnership with LaSource. The collaboration goes beyond making recommendations or launching products online; it encompasses decision-making, campaign execution and the measurement of results.
“Launching a website or defining a content strategy is just one step. Value is built over time through what we publish each week, the improvements we choose to make and the campaigns we deliver. Our role is to ensure continuity in this work with the League and to contribute directly to its execution,” emphasises David Gonçalves, co-founder and COO of LaSource.
Five seasons of continuity, with priorities reviewed along the way
The agreement provides a framework for this joint effort, covering the 2026/27 to 2030/31 seasons. It allows the partners to draw on LaSource’s expertise as required, with a seasonal plan defining projects and responsibilities and quarterly reviews providing opportunities to reassess priorities.
“We are committed to the long term, but not to a rigid programme. The benefit of this framework is precisely that it allows us to adjust priorities as the seasons progress and in line with results,” explains David Gonçalves.
In practical terms, the partnership provides for different levels of involvement. LaSource may lead certain projects, work alongside the League’s teams on others, or provide support on an ad hoc basis. The LNB retains responsibility for approving the overall strategic direction, with roles and responsibilities defined for each project.
“Continuity does not mean that LaSource has to do the same things for five years. The partnership is also designed to develop the League’s internal capabilities and adapt the division of responsibilities over time,” explain Fabrice Jouhaud and David Gonçalves.
The clubs: the next area of focus
The relationship with fans is also built at club level. The LNB is organising a Customer Workshop bringing together club representatives, its own teams and the UCPB (Union of Professional Basketball Clubs). LaSource will facilitate the discussions, drawing on practical experience and the perspectives of those involved. The aim is to understand the operational challenges faced by club teams, the commercial priorities of club management and the specific needs of individual clubs, before identifying opportunities for improvement, shared initiatives and collective development.
The initiative is intended to produce recommendations on audience insights and fan satisfaction, as well as ways to develop a stronger community of French basketball fans. Participants should also gain practical tools, insights into best practices and actionable ideas that they can apply within their own organisations. The potential for pooling resources will also be explored, with a focus on the practical benefits for clubs rather than the introduction of a standardised system.
For the League, this work also has commercial implications. A better understanding of who follows French basketball, how frequently they engage and what they expect from the competitions should help the LNB demonstrate their appeal to broadcasters with stronger audience insights and supporting evidence. Audience development is therefore closely linked to the work on content and services: making French basketball more compelling to follow while demonstrating the value of its relationship with fans.
The initial recommendations from the Customer Workshop are expected by March 2027, ahead of consideration by the LNB’s governing bodies. This will represent one of the first milestones in the next phase of the partnership with LaSource, translating audience insights into development priorities for the League and its clubs.
About LNB:
The Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB) has run professional men’s basketball in France since 1987. It organises the country’s top two divisions: Betclic ÉLITE, which has 16 clubs, and ÉLITE 2. Betclic ÉLITE matches are broadcast on DAZN. More at lnb.fr.
About LaSource:
LaSource is a strategic partner connecting sport, technology and capital. It helps sports organisations, technology companies and investors grow their business in sport through strategy, digital transformation and ecosystem partnerships. By combining strategic foresight with hands-on execution, LaSource turns long-term ambition into initiatives that can be deployed and scaled. Its team works across France, Spain, Belgium and Portugal.
LaSource exists to help those shaping the next era of sport. The agency helps sports organisations, technology companies, and investors grow their business in sport through strategy, digital transformation and ecosystem partnerships. By combining strategic foresight with hands-on execution, they turn long-term ambition into initiatives that can actually be deployed and scaled.