The Hollywood & Highland complex hosted the final stop of Nike's worldwide tour, called "More Than a Game: the Tour," this past Saturday, attracting thousands of Angelenos. The tour launched on August 12 in Chicago and went on to nine other cities, including Washington, D.C., Beijing, Paris, London, and New York, before ending in L.A. The event brought LeBron James to promote his upcoming film, More Than a Game, with a screening at 11 a.m. followed by a day full of open-to-the-public interactive activities. The event necessitated full street closure on Hollywood Boulevard, with four courts and activity tents set up for the program.
The film concerns James’s journey from high school student in Ohio to N.B.A. stardom, along with the stories of four of his teammates. Based on the film's biographical premise, tour stops featured basketball games, giveaways, and opportunities for young attendees to interact with the famous ball player; Nike shuttled kids from the inner city for the occasion. Nike also incorporated an online contest before the tour, in which winners were selected as correspondents who documented the tour stops on a Nike Web site.
Working with the Nike Geographical Business Unit West team, the Urban Marketing Corporation of America produced the tour, and that group's Diane Valentine turned to ELS for logistics and production for the Los Angeles leg. “This is the finale—celebrities and basketball players were there for hours, interacting with the kids and getting involved. It’s something we rarely see in L.A., because everything is privatized,” said ELS’s Joel Goldman.
More Than a Game hits theaters tomorrow, and Nike’s new shoe, LeBron VII, will also be avaialable in stores this month.
