Inside the Charlotte Hornets' 2026-27 Schedule Release

Schedule release day is the Super Bowl for creative marketing teams, and the Charlotte Hornets' staff rose to the occasion.

In conjunction with Chess.com, the Hornets announced their 2026-27 schedule over a not-so-casual, life-sized game of chess. Brandon Miller and Moussa Diabate teamed up with GothamChess (Levy Rozman) to take on Coby White, Kon Knueppel, and Sam Copeland, the head of community for Chess.com and a native of the Carolinas who earned the title of 'National Master' of chess in 2012 and 2014.

GothamChess is one of the biggest stars in the burgeoning chess community as he boasts over 8 million subscribers on YouTube and 2.2 million followers on Instagram. The opportunity to partner with Rozman and Chess.com was a layup for the Hornets' Chief Marketing Officer Tyrel Kirkham.

"This Chess.com relationship is one that I've actually had for a couple of years now. The level of chess infiltrating culture has been very prevalent over the years, and we thought it would be a uniquely different positioning for our brand to look at a Chess.com partnership and chess as a theme."

"And as we did our homework...one in four people in Charlotte were registered on Chess.com, coupled with over a 1,000,000 users between North and South Carolina. So our points were starting to be validated that there was an interest, not only in our existing market, but we felt that we could tap into new audiences. And when the stars started to align, it felt like a no-brainer opportunity for us."

The schedule release evolved past just the social media video and digital activations as the Hornets took to the streets of Charlotte and engaged the community.

Brü Coffee, Moussa Diabate, DJ Fannie Mae, Muggsy Bogues, and other members of the Hornets' organization were set up at Truist Center Plaza on Thursday afternoon, creating a space where fans could escape from the mid-afternoon malaise at work and celebrate the upcoming season.

Over a chess match, of course.

"These are just regular people coming together through the power of basketball and the power of chess and playing with one another. I watched one exchange, it's probably a 30 year age gap," said Kirkham. "They looked at each other. They shook each other's hands. They sat down. They played their game. And then they thanked each other at the end and went their separate ways"

"And for me, what started off as a great piece of content," Kirkham continued, "leveraging influencers, leveraging our players, it's great. But if you don't have that connection and that purpose and that bringing the community and fans along with you, both new and alike, or even some people who weren't fans...Yesterday we created that connective touch point. And as a CMO, as a brand builder, that's what we aim to do in every single activation and campaign that we implement."

Nobody was more excited about the partnership between the Hornets and Chess.com than veteran forward Grant Williams. An avid chess player himself, Williams coincidentally re-posted an Instagram post by Chess.com just hours before Kirkham pitched the brand activation to him.

Grant Williams chess.com post | @grantwill2 on Instagram

"He's one of Chess.com's top members and just active on the platform. So I had talked to him well in advance of us even bringing this concept to life.  He was thrilled and he served as a great motivator and coach for his teammates during their their back-and-forth battle here a couple of weeks ago."

A key piece in the release video was Naz Reid's commentary that highlighted the links between the games of chess and basketball.

"Chess and basketball are more alike thank you think. Every move has a purpose. Every move has a role," is how Reid started his narration, and throughout the entire 90 second video that includes chess and basketball highlights, he masterfully orates the strategic similarities between the two.

"The narration by Naz Reid," said Kirkham, "I want people to hang on those words. They matter."

The opening move of the Hornets' season was made on Thursday afternoon when their 2026-27 schedule was released, but that's only just the beginning. The proverbial move of a pawn to open a chess match.

Kirkham pointed to things like the franchise's partnership with WSOC, continued upgrades to the Spectrum Center, the exciting personalities on the team, and of course, the marquee home games against some of the league's superstars, as reasons to look forward to what is to come this season.

"I think it'll just be a bit more ambitious on the brand front, trying new things, collaborative efforts, meeting our fans where they are and and offering up new opportunities for them to see the brand in new lights. So lots on the docket for this upcoming season.  We couldn't be more excited and I know fans are excited too."

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