Would a Celtics vs Lakers Final bring the fans back?

dhsilv2 · Post #81 » by **dhsilv2** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:53 pm

bisme37 wrote:
dhsilv2 wrote:
bisme37 wrote:I'm seeing a lot of comments about who cares about ratings. As a fan of the league I care about ratings in the sense that the league gets money from the networks, and if ratings suck they get less money, which negatively impacts the growth of the league I love. I want the NBA to flourish.

the league will be just fine if salaries drop...

For sure. But existing salaries won't drop, each team's cap will drop. And I don't think it's very fun when teams suddenly don't have money for free agents. And as I said, I'd just like to see the league continue to grow instead of the opposite.

Honestly, I think the league has grown too much but not sure I care all that much either. Sure if the cap drops it'll create some instability for a few years, but hopefully that can lead to some more interesting teams getting good. Either way basketball will be fine and the NBA isn't going to stop getting the top talent in the world. And hey, maybe a few more regular fans can go to some games as a result...win win win to me. Plus maybe cable plans can come down in price so there's a reason to even consider buying cable, or better the nba offers a better streaming service to offset their losses from the cable deals. Again, all of these things are wins imo.

daswunderboy · Post #82 » by **daswunderboy** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:53 pm

His Airness 23 wrote:The ratings have SUCKED this season

Nobody cares about the Celtics! **** Boston!

(seriously, you guys have won enough this century, sit the next few decades out!)

BillTheGOAT · Post #83 » by **BillTheGOAT** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:53 pm

macNcheese3 wrote:If the Celtics played the LAL in the finals I think they would barely win a game.

Agreed, I think the Lakers would struggle to win a game.

macNcheese3 · Post #84 » by **macNcheese3** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:59 pm

BillTheGOAT wrote:
macNcheese3 wrote:If the Celtics played the LAL in the finals I think they would barely win a game.

Agreed, I think the Lakers would struggle to win a game.

CptCanada · Post #85 » by **CptCanada** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:00 pm

NPZ wrote:
His Airness 23 wrote:The ratings have SUCKED this season

Lakers Celtics is what all the non-Laker/Celtic fans WANT and NEED! They're all clamoring for the history and the storylines and the romance. No one wants no Clippers - Bucks. Snoozefest.

Raps fans and Bucks fans even want Celtics - Lakers.

No offense but I haven't heard a single fan who isn't a Celtics vs Lakers finals. I'd be fine with the Celtics but I'd actually rather see the Bucks first and the Heat represent the East if its not the Raptors. As for the Lakers I have zero interest of seeing that team in the finals. And again, I haven't heard of a single person who isn't a Lakers fan who wants to see them there. Loads of non Bucks fans who wouldn't mind seeing them though.

TroubleS0me · Post #86 » by **TroubleS0me** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:33 pm

nOPE. Celtics lack star power.

hksazn · Post #87 » by **hksazn** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:43 pm

25% more facials and rejections

BigtimeNBAfan · Post #88 » by **BigtimeNBAfan** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:44 pm

People are insane if they don't think Lebron in the Finals with the Lakers combined with them playing the Celtics would be huge for ratings. The biggest rivalry in sports mixed with the best player of the era trying to win a title for his 3rd team resurrecting the Lakers from the dumpster fire they were before he got there.

You hate to bring it up, but the Lakers in the finals the same year as Kobe's death with the "win for Kobe" mantra would also help ratings. You would get a lot of people tuning in for that storyline who might not otherwise be big basketball fans.

Higgs Boston · Post #89 » by **Higgs Boston** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:45 pm

TroubleS0me wrote:nOPE. Celtics lack star power.

If celtics go to the finales that means Brown and Tatum became stars in the playoffs or that they had insane luck with injuries. So in the first case they don't lack star power.

Post #90 » by **Darth Celtic** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:22 pm

clyde21 wrote:both LA teams and Boston are elite this year, yet the ratings are the worst they've been in years...maybe it's not all about large markets (i know, crazy talk).

Boston is 9th in market size.

More likely it's down because NY is the largest market, has 2 teams in the east, and they both suck badly.

JN61 · Post #91 » by **JN61** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:36 pm

Does generic fans care about Celtics? They don't have any superstars.

The Laker Kid · Post #92 » by **The Laker Kid** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:48 pm

Nothing can bring the fans back. Not even LAL-BOS series, or any other series for that matter. NBA is a slowly dying product. It's just the sign of the times. People have moved on to cellphones and social media. The NBA was popular before social media, when people were glued to the TV as their only source of entertainment. But now there are plenty of alternatives.

DingleJerry · Post #93 » by **DingleJerry** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:58 pm

No way I'd say the league is dying as it has now become the #2 sport in the world. Ratings are down for a myriad of reasons listed here, but one that I think can't be stated enough is simply the amount of cord cutting combined with more entertainment options than ever before. Those are huge logistical things that are no indictment on the product, its simply inevitable that will hurt numbers. Combine that with the game related things mentioned. But, someone was comparing LBJ to MJ based on ratings earlier. It's not even a meaningful comparison just simply based on the logistics of how TV and the entertainment market is different from the mid 90s when everyone essentially had 5 TV stations and no internet.

I agree with the main points about jamming markets and a select few superstars instead of showcasing the overall talent of the league, which has never been better. Guys like Lillard and Giannis and others should be forefront for the league but they're not, Giannis is getting there of course. Essentially, they just need to diversify a bit and not be so LBJ reliant. The talent is there if they get it in front of people.

To the Celts/Lakers thing. I know I'm a Bucks fan so take with a grain of salt. But for how the NBA markets based on superstars and their storylines. It sure seems to me the NBAs best Finals thing to happen is a Giannis vs LBJ passing of the torch related storyline, combined with the Kobe/Lakers storyline. A big part of the rating dip is LBJ being on the West and he's such a factor in TV ratings, they basically need to get casuals hooked on someone else as LBJ ages and Giannis is IMO the best guy they could hope for. If casuals actually watch this guy game to game they'd be blown away, there's multiple plays every game that make you shake your head that probably no one else can do. And he does it every game to the point that it's just ho hum at this point.

clyde21 · Post #94 » by **clyde21** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 11:00 pm

Darth Celtic wrote:
clyde21 wrote:both LA teams and Boston are elite this year, yet the ratings are the worst they've been in years...maybe it's not all about large markets (i know, crazy talk).

Boston is 9th in market size.

More likely it's down because NY is the largest market, has 2 teams in the east, and they both suck badly.

NY has sucked for decades, and Brooklyn now is actually good and that still hasn't changed anything.

SpiderX1016 · Post #95 » by **SpiderX1016** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 11:10 pm

Nope. To keep it short.

Other than Curry and LeBron, most casual fans can't name any other player In the NBA. They're not going to tune in to watch a sport they don't care about.

Pachinko_ · Post #96 » by **Pachinko_** » Mon Feb 10, 2020 11:33 pm

SpiderX1016 wrote:Nope. To keep it short.

Other than Curry and LeBron, most casual fans can't name any other player In the NBA. They're not going to tune in to watch a sport they don't care about.

So **** them.
To keep it short

ILOVEIT · Post #97 » by **ILOVEIT** » Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:44 am

That's a 20-30 year old concept....Boston is no longer a big draw IMO.

If New York became a dominant team...that would do it....West coast vs East Coast would do it.

LakerLegend · Post #98 » by **LakerLegend** » Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:48 am

clyde21 wrote:
Darth Celtic wrote:
clyde21 wrote:both LA teams and Boston are elite this year, yet the ratings are the worst they've been in years...maybe it's not all about large markets (i know, crazy talk).

Boston is 9th in market size.

More likely it's down because NY is the largest market, has 2 teams in the east, and they both suck badly.

NY has sucked for decades, and Brooklyn now is actually good and that still hasn't changed anything.

Doesn't mean anything regarding Brooklyn...in LA for example it's night and day when the Lakers are good vs. the Clips. No one cares about the B teams.

Boston is actually much bigger than 9th when you consider they represent all of New England.

Post #99 » by **K For Three** » Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:56 am

All this crappy superstar talk when I thought it was well understood that Brad Stevens was always the teams biggest superstar.

SpiderX1016 · Post #100 » by **SpiderX1016** » Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:04 am

Pachinko_ wrote:
SpiderX1016 wrote:Nope. To keep it short.

Other than Curry and LeBron, most casual fans can't name any other player In the NBA. They're not going to tune in to watch a sport they don't care about.

So **** them.
To keep it short

Don't matter to me lol. I'm just glad we finally have more than a couple teams competing for the Finals.