More than nostalgia: How NBC thrived and ESPN failed with the NBA

[Hornet Mania]

Presentation matters.

NBC had top-tier presentation in every area, from the intro to the broadcasters to the halftime show. They did an excellent job of promoting the league as a whole and a few dozen stars as Jordan foils.

ABC/ESPN had bottom of the barrel presentation from the jump. Worse pregame with more ads and less analysis, worse broadcasters and the worst studio show of any sport on any American network imo. ABC/ESPN also dropped the ball with promoting a range of stars, opting instead to only cover a few stars (Lebron, mostly) and teams (Lakers, Knicks, Celtics, Heat).

Even though Jordan dominated the 90s NBC did a killer job building up his opponents. Every hero needs a solid cast of antagonists. NBC built that up for MJ, Disney never did it for the superstar of their time. The Lebron era absolutely could have been sold as well or better, Disney simply failed to capitalize. Heatles vs The World was a layup narrative. Lebron as a sympathetic Sisyphus against the Super Warriors was another bankable angle. ESPN was too busy pushing BS like 'ooh, look at the drip so-and-so wore into the arena today' to properly promote the actual basketball contests even when those games had historic stakes.

Not to even get into their constant badgering for stars to leave mid-market teams for Disney's preferred franchises. You never saw that **** on NBC, ever team got treated like a product worth supporting. On ESPN there are a handful of 'real' NBA teams and then fodder. If you're a fan of the latter group, why tune in to watch talking heads beg for your stars to demand a trade?

[LakerLegend]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/new-version-roundball-rock-john-tesh-nbc-1235905603/

[FAH1223]

so is it really returning to NBC? If so, fire most of those at ESPN especially Malika Andrews. Only keep Hannah Storm. Bring back Bob Costas and some oldies if they're still around. Also bring back the old theme tune.

Costas is semi-retired and funny enough, he has a contract with WARNER BROTHERS DISCOVERY as he appears on CNN and I believe has a show on HBO.

And of course WBD also owns TNT and is on the verge of losing the NBA rights.

[UglyBugBall]

ESPN used to be great as a whole network, but it’s just plummeted.

They abandoned the idea of talking sports, and just chose to focus on the same 5 teams in every sport, and say dumb things for attention/clicks.

Skip Bayless was the downfall of sports media. Once they learned a troll who just spouted provocative outlandish takes could become popular, it meant serious sports discussion wasn't going to be a priority. I have no ill to people regardless of your politics, religious beliefs, cultural beliefs, etc. . ., but if you are a Skip Bayless fan, I hate you.

I'm a SB fan and don't understand the hate. I can't watch every game, so he keeps me in the loop with analysis on how the league is shaping up. He has decades of knowledge and experience, so it's nice to have that distilled in a daily dose of dense analysis.