NBA viewership down

[Black Jack]

Impossible to read the whole thread but has anybody pointed out that young kids tend to use streaming sites a lot yet?

I bet at least 20-30% of people watching NBA games have got to be uncounted at this point. No clue the actual numbers but just a hunch based on how much I hear it mentioned online.

Here's my proposal, anyone anywhere needs to be able to watch ALL GAMES for a simple monthly fee on platforms that don't have buffering issues like youtube / amazon etc.

[wco81]

Maybe NBA fans need to boycott the Christmas NFL games.

NFL trying to curb stomp the NBA and all other sports leagues?

[SirCharles3434]

NFL is a juggernaut in America and that is not changing anytime soon. NFL basically Deebo the NBA Christmas Day games lol damn

[The Real Dalic]

Maybe NBA fans need to boycott the Christmas NFL games.

NFL trying to curb stomp the NBA and all other sports leagues?

Yes they are. Lol It's a business. They want to make as much money as possible.

I never watch the NFL since I think it's boring, but they're doing whatever they can to maximize their profits. Seems smart to me.

I'll be watching the NBA's Christmas Day lineup though since the NBA is my favorite sport.

[Duke4life831]

Maybe NBA fans need to boycott the Christmas NFL games.

NFL trying to curb stomp the NBA and all other sports leagues?

Ya don’t think that will make a difference. The NBA is a niche sport in the US compared to the NFL.

The casual US sports fan is going to choose the NFL over the NBA and we’ve seen that hardcore NBA fans aren’t really turning out this year to watch the NBA. If the NFL wants to take Christmas, there really isn’t much the NBA can do about that.

[RRyder823]

Maybe NBA fans need to boycott the Christmas NFL games.

NFL trying to curb stomp the NBA and all other sports leagues?

If the NFL wants Christmas it's gonna get Christmas and there really isn't anything the NBA (or the fans that prefer the NBA over the NFL) can really do about it.

The NFL is just a league on a different level

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[og15]

Just my two cents - nobody cares as much about the basketball as they do the storylines. The storylines aren't as engaging anymore, particularly as teams/players have devalued what the regular season means.

Marketing is the same everywhere, including basketball.

People even when they don't think they are doing so are investing their time and money based a lot on emotions and far less on logic.

For example, regardless of when in recent NBA history you're talking about (so rules and playstyle are irrelevant), you have people who would swear up and down that college basketball is better. In reality the actual basketball product in college basketball in an average game is not particularly good, but it's not simply about the quality of basketball.

Does the quality matter to a degree? Of course, but that's not the primary motivating factor to get people to watch. The primary motivating factor to get people to watch stuff is drama, storylines, controversy, etc.

This also reminds us of the dynasty vs parity question. Theoretically dynasties should be worse, because it's more predictable who will be in the finals, etc, etc. Parity technically produces a better overall product on a game to game basis, but in terms of drawing the most eyeballs, dynasties seem to just win out. People like to see the giant fail, or depending on the giant, you have a large amount of people join the wagon.

[timdunkit]

Just my two cents - nobody cares as much about the basketball as they do the storylines. The storylines aren't as engaging anymore, particularly as teams/players have devalued what the regular season means.

Marketing is the same everywhere, including basketball.

People even when they don't think they are doing so are investing their time and money based a lot on emotions and far less on logic.

For example, regardless of when in recent NBA history you're talking about (so rules and playstyle are irrelevant), you have people who would swear up and down that college basketball is better. In reality the actual basketball product in college basketball in an average game is not particularly good, but it's not simply about the quality of basketball.

Does the quality matter to a degree? Of course, but that's not the primary motivating factor to get people to watch. The primary motivating factor to get people to watch stuff is drama, storylines, controversy, etc.

This also reminds us of the dynasty vs parity question. Theoretically dynasties should be worse, because it's more predictable who will be in the finals, etc, etc. Parity technically produces a better overall product on a game to game basis, but in terms of drawing the most eyeballs, dynasties seem to just win out. People like to see the giant fail, or depending on the giant, you have a large amount of people join the wagon.

Exactly. Even though he's a cornball, Shaq knew if he said something about a big man people will tune in and he was good at making rivalries for us to enjoy. I remember how we all looked forward to Shaq's first game against Kobe. Ruben-Patterson proclaiming he was the Kobe-stopper. Lebron's free agency was a drama for 2 years and he did something no one did.

There is a reason Dillon Brooks gets so much attention - he's willing to be a villain in Lebron's story arc (or other stars).

The problem with the NBA stars in the current age is that they don't do a good job creating stories. It's also a problem for the NBA, as it needs its stars to fuel the storylines. There is no anticipation otherwise aside from seeing "great basketball". For example, even though they never met in the finals, the NBA promoted the hell out of Kobe vs Lebron. I would have loved to see Giannis vs Jokic (superstars in completely different ways), but it hasn't been touched.

[wco81]

Maybe NBA fans need to boycott the Christmas NFL games.

NFL trying to curb stomp the NBA and all other sports leagues?

If the NFL wants Christmas it's gonna get Christmas and there really isn't anything the NBA (or the fans that prefer the NBA over the NFL) can really do about it.

The NFL is just a league on a different level

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Maybe Mahomes, Jackson or one of the other stars get injured playing a quick turnaround game in the middle of the week.

Karma time.

[ropjhk]

Impossible to read the whole thread but has anybody pointed out that young kids tend to use streaming sites a lot yet?

I bet at least 20-30% of people watching NBA games have got to be uncounted at this point. No clue the actual numbers but just a hunch based on how much I hear it mentioned online.

Here's my proposal, anyone anywhere needs to be able to watch ALL GAMES for a simple monthly fee on platforms that don't have buffering issues like youtube / amazon etc.

I would think that official streaming sources would track viewership. There's no reason not to.

Illegal streams on the other hand would have unknown viewers.

Also younger fans tend to watch more highlights and watch less full games.

[RRyder823]

Maybe NBA fans need to boycott the Christmas NFL games.

NFL trying to curb stomp the NBA and all other sports leagues?

If the NFL wants Christmas it's gonna get Christmas and there really isn't anything the NBA (or the fans that prefer the NBA over the NFL) can really do about it.

The NFL is just a league on a different level

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Maybe Mahomes, Jackson or one of the other stars get injured playing a quick turnaround game in the middle of the week.

Karma time.

Honestly, I'm not seeing the Karma issue. If you want to watch basketball then watch basketball. From a fans perspective, I'm not sure why people wouldn't like more options.

If it's because "Christmas is the NBAs day," well, they're more than welcome to throw some games on Thanksgiving to give some fans a different option. They won't but they could



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[Thaddy]

Maybe they can make it more accessible otherwise I'm using streams. Do I need Amazon Prime, Netflix, ESPN, NBATV, SPORTSNET, and the million other channels for $500/month?

[wco81]

If the NFL wants Christmas it's gonna get Christmas and there really isn't anything the NBA (or the fans that prefer the NBA over the NFL) can really do about it.

The NFL is just a league on a different level

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Maybe Mahomes, Jackson or one of the other stars get injured playing a quick turnaround game in the middle of the week.

Karma time.

Honestly, I'm not seeing the Karma issue. If you want to watch basketball then watch basketball. From a fans perspective, I'm not sure why people wouldn't like more options.

If it's because "Christmas is the NBAs day," well, they're more than welcome to throw some games on Thanksgiving to give some fans a different option. They won't but they could



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ABC and ESpN have been building up Xmas NBA games for years. They obviously invested big on NBA TV rights.

But Disney is also a big partner with the NFL too.

It may be more about making these media companies and streamers pitted against each other, to make them all bid more aggressively, especially trying to draw Netflix into bidding for one of the larger package of games the next time the NFL TV rights are up.

The middle of the week games are really bad for players, who barely recover when they’re playing a full week between games. Injury rate would be interesting to study.

[RRyder823]

Maybe Mahomes, Jackson or one of the other stars get injured playing a quick turnaround game in the middle of the week.

Karma time.

Honestly, I'm not seeing the Karma issue. If you want to watch basketball then watch basketball. From a fans perspective, I'm not sure why people wouldn't like more options.

If it's because "Christmas is the NBAs day," well, they're more than welcome to throw some games on Thanksgiving to give some fans a different option. They won't but they could



Sent from my SM-S918U using RealGM mobile app

ABC and ESpN have been building up Xmas NBA games for years. They obviously invested big on NBA TV rights.

But Disney is also a big partner with the NFL too.

It may be more about making these media companies and streamers pitted against each other, to make them all bid more aggressively, especially trying to draw Netflix into bidding for one of the larger package of games the next time the NFL TV rights are up.

The middle of the week games are really bad for players, who barely recover when they’re playing a full week between games. Injury rate would be interesting to study.

Middle of the week games a mixed bad from a players perspective (at least from.any report I've ever read on players talking about them)

They hate having so little time off on the turnaround but they love the extra time off the following week

And yes I'd agree a lot of it is about bring in the streaming services like Peacock and Netflix. NFL has been ahead of the rest of the leagues in getting those services into the game (while still airing locally on free TV if you're in the area of one of the teams)

I'm not sure how the NBA is gonna be able to compete if the NFL chooses to just take over Christmas day. Don't think there's anything they really can do outside of scheduling their games around the NFLs kickoff times

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[Bolivar]

Maybe NBA fans need to boycott the Christmas NFL games.

NFL trying to curb stomp the NBA and all other sports leagues?

If the NFL wants Christmas it's gonna get Christmas and there really isn't anything the NBA (or the fans that prefer the NBA over the NFL) can really do about it.

The NFL is just a league on a different level

Maybe NBA should also try having meaningful games before april

[Black Jack]

Impossible to read the whole thread but has anybody pointed out that young kids tend to use streaming sites a lot yet?

I bet at least 20-30% of people watching NBA games have got to be uncounted at this point. No clue the actual numbers but just a hunch based on how much I hear it mentioned online.

Here's my proposal, anyone anywhere needs to be able to watch ALL GAMES for a simple monthly fee on platforms that don't have buffering issues like youtube / amazon etc.

I would think that official streaming sources would track viewership. There's no reason not to.

Illegal streams on the other hand would have unknown viewers.

Also younger fans tend to watch more highlights and watch less full games.

Yeah I mean the illegal ones.

[California Gold]

NFL is king and always will be. Get over it.

The only league that comes close is NCAA Football and even then the NFL clears it pretty easily. The NBA isn't going to touch either of them.

[M2J]

NBA is down due to lack of stars actually starring. Load management is a part of that. That's an issue with the organizations as much or more than the stars.

I've brought up Joel Embiid and the team playing 1 night vs Charlotte and knowing he'd miss the potential measurement game of the Sixers Big 3 vs Cleveland. The Sixers organization benefits from the surer win vs the league benefitting from a eye catching have on a Saturday. That kinda stuff is happening all over the league.

The teams over the past couple years is the team's that have star power aren't winning. Even Boston stars aren't exactly the biggest in the game... It's a strength in numbers with 0 holes type team and none are that eye catching. I'm a big fan of Brown and have a personal connection to him from his college days and still find it hard to actually follow them.

Stories! The new CBA has killed the stories and I don't see enough of the media or experts discussing that fact.
It was only a couple of seasons ago when it was a consensus that the NBA offseason and trade deadline was as big a cultural discussion as even the NFL's regular season. Not talking about ratings but I'm talking about headlines. Player empowerment was helping the league because the most newsworthy thing of this season has been Jimmy Butler, and because of the CBA that's not even going to happen likely. Biggest story of the summer outside of Olympics was a minor mole hill of Paul George changing teams at near 35yo leaving another old team. Then much like last year with Dame the trade has hardly paid off because of these rules and budgets that make it tougher to flesh out your roster successfully and an injury kills your season even if you can return later.

CBA is too restrictive. Kills these trade requests that were carrying the league a few seasons agoYou pretty much are required to pair a young rookie Max level player with old ones line Paul George.

Stars can't star and remain on winning teams. You see it all over the league the most consistent teams are those with young rookie deals that are just starting or yet to start even with Mobley and the Cavs and Garland on a young max. Orlando, Houston, OKC, Grizzlies and nobody cares about those 5 teams right now... Maybe Memphis but they've been down last couple seasons.

Even though Jokic isn't a huge draw it would help if the likes of Denver, Sixers, Lakers, Suns, Warriors were carrying the league right now. Even in NYC they're getting there, but the masses don't see their players as stars.

By the time these younger teams take over the league to where people care about them intentionally, they will have to breakup those teams due to costs as we're seeing in Denver.


NBA also needs a flex tv schedule, it's just time for that 100%. That would also allow them to showcase the young surprise teams when they arise and improve quality of what the masses see.

[RRyder823]

Maybe NBA fans need to boycott the Christmas NFL games.

NFL trying to curb stomp the NBA and all other sports leagues?

If the NFL wants Christmas it's gonna get Christmas and there really isn't anything the NBA (or the fans that prefer the NBA over the NFL) can really do about it.

The NFL is just a league on a different level

Maybe NBA should also try having meaningful games before april

realistic goals brah

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[ratul]

Excessive threes did it for me. I watch chess and soccer now.