2019 NBA Finals Thread, Part 3: Golden State Warriors vs Toronto Raptors | SERIES TIED AT 1

[SFour]

Doesn't matter what the Canadian numbers are. They didn't count the Canadian numbers in previous years either.

The fact remains that for US viewers Game 1 ratings were at their lowest point in 10 years.

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It does matter what the Canadian numbers are, because they are record breaking for us. I don't think you realize the effect this will have in 10-15 years...there will be a large increase in the number of Canadians drafted into the NBA, all thanks to this Raptors team led by Kawhi. I went to my friends house recently and I was shocked to see that in his neighborhood for every 5 houses there's a basketball net set up in the driveway.

[1bigfan13]

Doesn't matter what the Canadian numbers are. They didn't count the Canadian numbers in previous years either.

The fact remains that for US viewers Game 1 ratings were at their lowest point in 10 years.

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It does matter what the Canadian numbers are, because they are record breaking for us. I don't think you realize the effect this will have in 10-15 years...there will be a large increase in the number of Canadians drafted into the NBA, all thanks to this Raptors team led by Kawhi. I went to my friends house recently and I was shocked to see that in his neighborhood for every 5 houses there's a basketball net set up in the driveway.

You're talking about something completely different. I am specifically talking about Lebron's impact on Finals ratings. The article specifically states...."Canadian viewership does not count toward the metered-market ratings formula used in the U.S."

Those Canadian numbers weren't counted from 2008-2018 either. That's why I'm discounting them. If Canadian numbers could be counted, rating numbers from the 2008-2018 Finals would be a lot bigger as well.

[1bigfan13]

The main point is if the Warriors were truly responsible for the increase in Finals viewership over the past 5 years....why did US viewership dip to a 10 year low in the United States?

What changed?

No Lebron.

[floppymoose]

This may have been pointed out already but the ratings took a huge dip for Game 1.

ESPN said Friday that the Game 1 of the Toronto-Golden State series drew a 10.1 overnight rating, the lowest for Game 1 of a title series in a decade -- though all the numbers come with a serious catch. Canadian viewership does not count toward the metered-market ratings formula used in the U.S., and it was the most-watched NBA game in Canada's history.

Some Warriors fans were actually trying to make the argument about a week ago that NBA Finals ratings were high in recent years because of Golden State. I argued that Lebron was the reason there's been such high interest in the Finals.

Now we see what the numbers look like w/o Lebron in the picture.....a 10 year low.

A lot of people do watch Lebron. However I think having only one US team instead of two is naturally going to lead to a dip in US viewers and a bump in Canadian viewers. There is nothing about that that contradicts GSW being good for finals ratings. I would expect that both GSW *and* Lebron are good for finals ratings, especially in the US market.

[trending]

noone should be surprised by Gasol's 20 points. he's still playing at a high level, his career numbers show a lot of consistency. there is no downturn this season.

[SFour]

The main point is if the Warriors were truly responsible for the increase in Finals viewership over the past 5 years....why did US viewership dip to a 10 year low in the United States?

What changed?

No Lebron.

The fact that there isn't 2 US markets in the finals is a big reason why the ratings are low...you have to ask yourself what the ratings would be if it were Warriors vs Bucks....or even Warriors vs Sixers

Then another factor is that a lot of Americans don't watch the Raptors so they just assumed that the Warriors were going to steamroll the Raptors on their way to a 3-peat...now that the Raptors won game 1 more people might tune in.

Also Lebron never had 20-25% of Canada tuning into his game but I guess we can just ignore that since it's all about the USA.

[1bigfan13]

The main point is if the Warriors were truly responsible for the increase in Finals viewership over the past 5 years....why did US viewership dip to a 10 year low in the United States?

What changed?

No Lebron.

The fact that there isn't 2 US markets in the finals is a big reason why the ratings are low...you have to ask yourself what the ratings would be if it were Warriors vs Bucks....or even Warriors vs Sixers

Then another factor is that a lot of Americans don't watch the Raptors so they just assumed that the Warriors were going to steamroll the Raptors on their way to a 3-peat...now that the Raptors won game 1 more people might tune in.

Also Lebron never had 20-25% of Canada tuning into his game but I guess we can just ignore that since it's all about the USA.

LOL

You keep taking it as a personal slight against Canada when it's really not.

The only reason I keep saying to discount Canadian viewership numbers is because when discussing the historical Finals ratings THEY ONLY USED VIEWERSHIP NUMBERS FROM THE UNITED STATES.

Accounting for Canadian viewership in the 2019 numbers would only skew information.

[1bigfan13]

noone should be surprised by Gasol's 20 points. he's still playing at a high level, his career numbers show a lot of consistency. there is no downturn this season.

The only thing that surprised me about Gasol was how well he defended the pick and roll out in space.

[SFour]

The main point is if the Warriors were truly responsible for the increase in Finals viewership over the past 5 years....why did US viewership dip to a 10 year low in the United States?

What changed?

No Lebron.

The fact that there isn't 2 US markets in the finals is a big reason why the ratings are low...you have to ask yourself what the ratings would be if it were Warriors vs Bucks....or even Warriors vs Sixers

Then another factor is that a lot of Americans don't watch the Raptors so they just assumed that the Warriors were going to steamroll the Raptors on their way to a 3-peat...now that the Raptors won game 1 more people might tune in.

Also Lebron never had 20-25% of Canada tuning into his game but I guess we can just ignore that since it's all about the USA.

LOL

You keep taking it as a personal slight against Canada when it's really not.

The only reason I keep saying to discount Canadian viewership numbers is because when discussing the historical Finals ratings THEY ONLY USED VIEWERSHIP NUMBERS FROM THE UNITED STATES.

Accounting for Canadian viewership in the 2019 numbers would only skew information.

you conveniently avoided my 1st point which is that there is only 1 US market in this finals matchup....so logically, the US ratings would be lower than it would be if there were 2 US markets...not rocket science.

Also if you were to include Canadian viewership for 2019, you would also do it for the other years as well...and then compare the numbers.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Do y’all still have the Warriors taking this if Iggy is out and KD is gone till game 4? Cuz Dray will have to end up on kawhi because of his strength advantage over Klay (which means Siakam will eat again). Iggy our makes it more likely Kawhi or Siakam will go off

[binjumper]

Why the **** should fans give a **** about viewership ratings? It doesn't affect us, nor are they calculated properly I am here to watch my team win not giving a **** if some us broadcasting company is making money. The **** is wrong with all of ya'll. If you guys wanna see born that much go watch laker highlights.

[Demari]

The main point is if the Warriors were truly responsible for the increase in Finals viewership over the past 5 years....why did US viewership dip to a 10 year low in the United States?

What changed?

No Lebron.

The fact that there isn't 2 US markets in the finals is a big reason why the ratings are low...you have to ask yourself what the ratings would be if it were Warriors vs Bucks....or even Warriors vs Sixers

Then another factor is that a lot of Americans don't watch the Raptors so they just assumed that the Warriors were going to steamroll the Raptors on their way to a 3-peat...now that the Raptors won game 1 more people might tune in.

Also Lebron never had 20-25% of Canada tuning into his game but I guess we can just ignore that since it's all about the USA.

LOL

You keep taking it as a personal slight against Canada when it's really not.

The only reason I keep saying to discount Canadian viewership numbers is because when discussing the historical Finals ratings THEY ONLY USED VIEWERSHIP NUMBERS FROM THE UNITED STATES.

Accounting for Canadian viewership in the 2019 numbers would only skew information.

the difference is that Canadian views with raptors in the finals is setting tv records in canada
NBA viewership in canada has always been low. in the lebron vs warriors finals, maybe 200-300k canadians would have tuned in. over 3 million watched game 1 of tor vs gs

[JShuttlesworth]

Why are Raps fans getting insecure about the TV ratings? Who cares? They don't use Canada in the stats, it's pretty simple, it's US TV ratings. Of course the numbers are going to be down in the US with only one American team playing in the Finals.

The effect it's having in Toronto is absolutely nuts, I haven't seen it like this ever. Kids everywhere carrying around basketballs, people of all ages getting shots up on the courts around the city after work, it's crazy. This alone is going to have a significant impact on basketball in Canada. The energy downtown after the games has been ridiculous as well as everyone funnels out of 'Jurassic Park'

[Red Shoelace]

Fellow raps fans y'all should heed our teams mentality. Never too high, never too low. One game at a time. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Warriors may be hurt but they are still dangerous and they've won championships.

It's okay to get high as a fan. It's not okay to outright dismiss our opponents and their chances of winning. We've earned the right to be positive for a change, how many seasons when our butt cheeks would be clenched even with double digit leads with a minute left to play. Our teams have been historically fragile with fraudulent defense. We now have a squad who are poised and capable and for once in the last 6+ damn post seasons we are peaking in real time. Put down your guard and be happy in the moment. GSW with Durant could reverse sweep us in a heartbeat, until then I'm going to enjoy every last minute we're on the court and be optimistic about our chances as well.

[Outside]

Why are Raps fans getting insecure about the TV ratings? Who cares? They don't use Canada in the stats, it's pretty simple, it's US TV ratings. Of course the numbers are going to be down in the US with only one American team playing in the Finals.

The effect it's having in Toronto is absolutely nuts, I haven't seen it like this ever. Kids everywhere carrying around basketballs, people of all ages getting shots up on the courts around the city after work, it's crazy. This alone is going to have a significant impact on basketball in Canada. The energy downtown after the games has been ridiculous as well as everyone funnels out of 'Jurassic Park'

It's more one particular fan, apparently a LeBron fan and/or a Warriors hater, trying to say LeBron is the only thing that keeps finals ratings from tanking and that the Warriors don't have a positive effect on finals ratings.

I need a lot more information before drawing any conclusions.

What are the trends over the 10-year period? How have the ratings risen or fallen over that time?

Are people who watch on DVR counted? I watch games on DVR, even while they're live. I start watching 30-60 minutes after the game has started so I can FF through commercials and halftime. If I have the cable box tuned to another channel for live TV (for the finals, I like to have it on the NBA channel), am I counted as a viewer? Are the people on the East Coast who DVR it because it's on late for them and watch the next day counted?

Are people who watch by streaming counted? There is a trend away from traditional cable and dish TV providers. Do the ratings account for that?

And yes, having one team from Toronto also impacts ratings. It's fine that Canadian viewership hasn't been counted previously and isn't counted again, but there is a huge concentration of viewers in the two areas where the participating teams are from. This year, the ratings being referenced apparently count viewers in one area. Not that Cleveland is a huge market, but is the drop in viewers for that market alone enough to account for the drop in viewership?

If you really want to gauge the viewership impact of, say, LeBron and the Warriors, you'd look at the number of viewers on all platforms and exclude areas for the participating teams. I personally don't doubt that LeBron is a draw. My guess is that Warriors are also a draw, one that has probably changed over time from plucky underdog playing a likable style to evil empire people want to watch lose.

So, yeah, you need more data to come to any conclusions.

[Triples333]

The main point is if the Warriors were truly responsible for the increase in Finals viewership over the past 5 years....why did US viewership dip to a 10 year low in the United States?

What changed?

No Lebron.

Well no, what changed is that the market ratings of the opposing team's fan base do not count in the USA Nielson ratings. The Warriors had the highest ratings in every round and approached records in the Rockets series.

[Son Goku 25]

I think the tactical mistake GS made was worrying too much about Kawhi. I think a more logical approach is to play the Steve Nash defense and more or less let Kawhi get his on high volume (which he may not be able to consistently do) and focus on slowing down the rest of the Raptors. A lot of their points came off of defensive breakdowns with all of the focus defenders were putting on him. Not sure what they do offensively differently though. As far as Toronto adjustments goes, there's not much you'd want to do differently, but I'd be concerned that Leonard looks slow out there at times and adjust things to make it easier for him. Everyone going off in game 1 should help the defense spread at least.

Raps can do a couple of things:

-Limit 2nd chance points for warriors, warriors got a ton of looks because of this
- Same thing as you mentioned, there were some broken plays as well as backdoor cuts that can be cleaned up
- Leonard/ Lowry playing better which isn't out of the norm with a healthy dose of Gasol/Siakam and pieces

As much as people are saying Warriors can do this and that, Raptors can play a lot better too.

[everdiso]

All the days off just gives me more time to think bad thoughts.

Raps played like I expected but that game 1 was still too close for comfort, even with some bounces.

A loss in game 2 would undo so much good work and put GS right back in the driver's seat.

Warriors are gonna come out foaming at the mouth so the Raps gotta come out even harder...and Kawhi and Kyle gotta put up some points this time.

One thing I do feel comfortable in is that the raps will continue to beat GS at their own transition game, which will continue to F with the Warriors heads.

[rjforniss]

I am not a fan of either team, but I am definitely pulling for the Raptors. Does anybody else feel that even if the Raptors took a 3-0 lead, the Warriors could very well be the first team in history to come back from that series deficit? Especially if Durant comes back.

[XxIronChainzxX]

Doesn't matter what the Canadian numbers are. They didn't count the Canadian numbers in previous years either.

The fact remains that for US viewers Game 1 ratings were at their lowest point in 10 years.

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It depends on who we're taking about here. US networks obviously care - they need US archaic ratings. The NBA cares in a sense - obviously the US TV deal is a big part of the $$. On the flip side, growth of the game in Canada is an important source of revenue and talent for the NBA and it's peripheral partners. The Raptors are bringing in the old Spurs type #s. A fitting parallel IMO.