NBA viewership down

[jokeboy86]

Something else I notice about the NBA is It also seems like the league has no idea what to do or how to market players who don't come into the league with huge pre-league/international hype or recognition. All of the "faces" or "marketable" players all have that, from Lebron, KD, Steph, to Zion/Ja/Wemby. Even Draymond was known before he came into the league because of his college career. It's like the league relied heavily on college basketball for years to do that for them. The one and done probably has hurt the league in this way because there haven't been that many phenom freshmen as you would think there would be. The most recent I can remember that happening for the league is with Zion, Ja, and probably Trae Young but it's too far in between.

This maybe one reason why the WNBA is only going to get bigger because since women can't declare until age 22 they have to stay in college where basically the biggest stars and best players can grow in stature for 3 to 4 years. By the time they get to the WNBA they're pretty well known. Look at Caitlin Clark or even previous players like Taurasi, Parker, Moore, Diggins. By the time Juju Watkins gets to the league she'll probably have a pretty big following that will carry over. Add to the fact that women's college basketball isn't just completely dominated by just 2 or 3 teams anymore and they'll probably have more stars spread out on good teams.

[Quentin]

This is the first season since the Timberwolves franchise began that I have not watched every game. I was die hard. This season, I have not watched a single game! Quite a turnabout.

[DOT]

Watch on YouTube

[bledredwine]

It’s simply boring to watch. There’s no aggression, no true rivalries, the international players are comparable to stars of the past but the Americans are absolute balls, there’s little loyalty (so why should the fans be?) and of course it’s soft as charmin, as Kobe used to say.

[Blame Rasho]

Overall tv viewership is down because a lot of people are cord cutting.

Look at your cable,streaming and internet bills. They aren’t going down. You can see highlights on YouTube immediately compared to 10 years ago.

[knicksfan974]

I have a feeling it will be downhill from here as more and more people are addicted to their devices and endless short videos and have an attention span of a two-year old. To be invested for 2+ hours for a basketball game could sound like an impossible task for these people.

[dhsilv2]

Overall tv viewership is down because a lot of people are cord cutting.

Look at your cable,streaming and internet bills. They aren’t going down. You can see highlights on YouTube immediately compared to 10 years ago.

$0.00 a month. You're right that won't go down...

[kg01]

Overall tv viewership is down because a lot of people are cord cutting.

Look at your cable,streaming and internet bills. They aren’t going down. You can see highlights on YouTube immediately compared to 10 years ago.

To your point, there shld be a better way to measure how people consume the product than just TV ratings. I'm sure they measure it when determining the money side of things.

And people need to stop citing tv ratings in suggesting people like the league less. It's not quite that simple.

[Dan33185]

This is the first season since the Timberwolves franchise began that I have not watched every game. I was die hard. This season, I have not watched a single game! Quite a turnabout.

I've watched a few, but I'm basically in the same boat as you. I've stuck with the Wolves through some historically bad seasons, and last season was a ton of fun. This year, I barely even remember they are on most nights, and when I do, I'm usually disinterested by halftime. Makes me sad to be honest, but I just don't get the same entertainment value I used to out of the NBA.

[Jamaaliver]

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

Thoughts?

[Kobeskillz]

It's boring and too expensive. I love the Lakers but i ain't paying that expensive cable package. I'll watch highlights and go to a bar here and there.

[bledredwine]

It's become so obvious that everyone's calling it out.

Inside the NBA isn't the reason why people find the NBA boring. My girlfriend, a former athlete who watches no tv programming other than soccer, used to love basketball. She watched a more recent game and kept laughing at the chucked 3's. She told me that it was boring to watch. She also asked me what was happening because it made no sense to her.

That was a game between two contenders a couple of years ago and she continues that sentiment today.

That has nothing to do with coverup reasons, accessibility etc. It has everything to do with the game and the rules that people love to ignore. It's not fun for the average sports fan to watch. It's only fun if already a fan of a team or player, not an experience that you can tune in and enjoy if you aren't an avid follower. It's not interesting.

[wco81]

It's boring and too expensive. I love the Lakers but i ain't paying that expensive cable package. I'll watch highlights and go to a bar here and there.

How much is the cable package?

I love being able to watch just about every Warriors game but I pay more for my cable TV.

About 20-30 years ago, you would only be able to watch 30-50 games, mostly road games, on local TV. But obviously you paid a lot less for cable.


Thing about Inside the NBA, as noted in another thread, Shaq and Charles are each making $15-20 million a year. If Kenny and Ernie make similar money, that's $70-80 million a year just for the hosts of a pre, post and half time show. That's not even counting the salaries of the production crew or other costs.

So ESPN is going to pay $80-90 million just for rights to Inside the NBA, maybe run that show 2 or 3 times a week after the NFL season is over?

They're going to need a lot of ad revenues but if the NBA games broadcasts aren't bringing millions of viewers, can it generate hundreds of millions in revenues to pay the talent?

It's in NBA's interest for the Lakers to be a big box office team, with the biggest star, since it has second biggest market and a bigger legacy of winning than the Knicks, who are in the biggest market.

However, I really wonder if Luka, a foreigner, can become the face of the league. For one thing, a lot of the biggest fans are African-American, who may respect Luka's game, but will they embrace him like they've embraced MJ, LBJ, Kobe?

Will they buy his jerseys and shoes and tune into his games like they did for MJ, LBJ, Kobe?

Luka may sell a lot more merchandise in Europe and get bigger ratings. But he's from a small country. Will French NBA fans necessarily buy his jersey instead of Wemby's? Or will Germans embrace him more than Franz?

Or a big source of foreign revenues for the NBA had been China. Will the Chinese embrace Luka? Certainly he makes a lot of highlight big shots but he's not dynamic like dunking on people like Lebron did.

[ForeverTFC]

Thoughts?

ESPN fired Simmons in part because he bad mouthed Roger Goodell. Meanwhile everyone in the NBA media loves to dunk on league, its players, commissioner, and everyone associated with it. What other league's media and fanbase consistently **** on it and gloats about its failures? Only the NBA.

The NBA's biggest "mistake" is that it became about more than the game and instead its own culture. No league, including the NFL, has the cultural impact. And its media believes it's part of the product and "in the community". So of course they make it about themselves.

What frustrates me is the participation of what I would consider the hardcore fanbase - people that take time out of their day to come to a basketball forum - in all of this. We have people on this forum and this very thread telling us they don't want games. So what are they here for exactly? To consume this toxic culture that they help perpetuate.

[K N U C K L E S]

Thing about Inside the NBA, as noted in another thread, Shaq and Charles are each making $15-20 million a year. If Kenny and Ernie make similar money, that's $70-80 million a year just for the hosts of a pre, post and half time show. That's not even counting the salaries of the production crew or other costs.

So ESPN is going to pay $80-90 million just for rights to Inside the NBA, maybe run that show 2 or 3 times a week after the NFL season is over?

1. Isn't Ernie Johnson the highest paid since he's been there way longer than the rest of them?

2. Maybe there'll be more games on ABC and ESPN to make up for losing TNT? I assume the league is isn't gonna not replace that national TV exposure.

[Billy Goat]

Ratings are down because the players hate and resent their own fans. It’s as simple as that.

[bledredwine]

Something else I notice about the NBA is It also seems like the league has no idea what to do or how to market players who don't come into the league with huge pre-league/international hype or recognition. All of the "faces" or "marketable" players all have that, from Lebron, KD, Steph, to Zion/Ja/Wemby. Even Draymond was known before he came into the league because of his college career. It's like the league relied heavily on college basketball for years to do that for them. The one and done probably has hurt the league in this way because there haven't been that many phenom freshmen as you would think there would be. The most recent I can remember that happening for the league is with Zion, Ja, and probably Trae Young but it's too far in between.

This maybe one reason why the WNBA is only going to get bigger because since women can't declare until age 22 they have to stay in college where basically the biggest stars and best players can grow in stature for 3 to 4 years. By the time they get to the WNBA they're pretty well known. Look at Caitlin Clark or even previous players like Taurasi, Parker, Moore, Diggins. By the time Juju Watkins gets to the league she'll probably have a pretty big following that will carry over. Add to the fact that women's college basketball isn't just completely dominated by just 2 or 3 teams anymore and they'll probably have more stars spread out on good teams.

This is a great point.

It is more challenging to find the correct avenues of exposure since humans don’t have one method of watching tv in common as they used to (cable), nor do they have a particularly hyped rivalries to get fans engrossed in the drama of it like the Larry/Magic or Jordan Pistons Knicks days.

So in order to do so, they’d have to get players exposure on mediums such as youtube, netflix, and so on for people to start recognizing them. That’s a tall order and the game certainly isn’t selling itself with the lack of story and excitement, allstar game etc. That’s the point that fans of the modern game continually make and they’re right, though it’s only one component of the problem.

[Gant]

Overall tv viewership is down because a lot of people are cord cutting.

Look at your cable,streaming and internet bills. They aren’t going down. You can see highlights on YouTube immediately compared to 10 years ago.

Yes. The delivery system is overpriced; fragmented; and frankly, irritating. That's not appealing for regular fans, let alone younger folks who don't currently follow the sport and have no interest in legacy television.

[ChiTownHero1992]

Yep already pay for YoutubeTV, Amazon Prime and HBO Max, and yet can't watch a single Bulls game, not about to add another streaming to watch NBA games. I'll occasionally watch 5 minutes of a non-bulls game on TNT or ESPN but rarely.