Is the NBA trending to become America's favorite sport?

wredj10 · Post #41 » by **wredj10** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:34 am

Too many black people in the NBA, not enough white stars. If the trend continues somehow black QB's overtake the NFL and there isn't a single white QB star, then I can the NBA overtaking the NFL.

Lets not make this about racism.

queridiculo · Post #42 » by **queridiculo** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:33 am

Don't underestimate how many people would never watch this sport due to the ethnic makeup of the league.

Basketball isn't going to displace football or baseball any time soon.

Lets not make this about racism.

ThumbsUpBaby · Post #43 » by **ThumbsUpBaby** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:41 am

Basketball won't beat football in the U.S. It can be considered a culture much like how soccer is considered a cultural sport for Europe. You ask any sports fans which team is their favorite team and they'll choose the football team over their city's basketball team 9/10 times.

CodeBreaker · Post #44 » by **CodeBreaker** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:55 am

I'm not american, nor in america, so I really have no idea about this particular subject.

But outside US, I believe NBA trounces NFL, NHL, MLB, just like here in Asia

Bologna Smasher · Post #45 » by **Bologna Smasher** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 10:54 am

I hope so. I'm the only person I know who's an NBA fan. Sick of hearing about football.

the_other_guy · Post #46 » by **the_other_guy** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:47 am

I live in Europe (Scotland) and a big basketball fan. Listen to a lot of US sports podcasts. So judging from them, like the volume of talk and excitement before/during NFL or NBA seasons, the weekly coverage. NBA is still miles and miles behind NFL.

HeartBreakKid · Post #47 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 3:28 pm

It's possible that future generations of parents won't let their kids play football as the health affects become more publicized and researched, and that's probably the best chance the NBA has of surpassing the NFL.

I think some people need to remember that football wasn't always the most popular sport in America. Baseball used to be, and newer generations stopped following it. And a sport even more violent than football, such as boxing which was bigger than football at one point largely died on a mainstream scale because many young athletes chose to go to safer sports (there are other reasons aside from that).

HeartBreakKid · Post #48 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 3:29 pm

SanDavid wrote:Basketball won't beat football in the U.S. It can be considered a culture much like how soccer is considered a cultural sport for Europe. You ask any sports fans which team is their favorite team and they'll choose the football team over their city's basketball team 9/10 times.

Depends on the city.

Promezclan · Post #49 » by **Promezclan** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 3:41 pm

SanDavid wrote:Basketball won't beat football in the U.S. It can be considered a culture much like how soccer is considered a cultural sport for Europe. You ask any sports fans which team is their favorite team and they'll choose the football team over their city's basketball team 9/10 times.

Then again, baseball in the US used to be a culture to an even greater degree, but got passed by football and even basketball - things can change quickly with new generations. Who knows what sport today's Snapchat kids will like, if any?

Winsome Gerbil · Post #50 » by **Winsome Gerbil** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 3:56 pm

Trending toward? Maybe.

Anywhere near there yet? Not remotely.

In fact according to the Harris polls, not even trending:
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-popular-sports-in-the-us-2016-3

Football has an amazing hold of the American imagination. The rest of the world thinks it's boring as hell and doesn't understand the fascination, but in America it's undisputed. You can see major storm clouds on the horizon for it, but you'd be lucky to make up that kind of gap in popularity in 20-30 years, let alone anytime soon.

Meanwhile, the NBA has never recovered the prominence in the U.S. it had during its 90's heyday with Michael's charisma. The sport has grown immensely overseas, and could legitimately go on to become the #2 global sport. But it's long faced odd headwinds in the U.S.

HotTubMike · Post #51 » by **HotTubMike** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:10 pm

queridiculo wrote:Don't underestimate how many people would never watch this sport due to the ethnic makeup of the league.

Basketball isn't going to displace football or baseball any time soon.

You realize the NFL has pretty much the same percentage of black athletes as the NBA right?

I think numbers will say NFL is the most popular but where I live its college football by a long long shot. The Texans are really popular but college football just feels like it effects almost everyone because their are so many teams with so many alumni in Houston.. UT, A&M, UH, Baylor, Rice, LSU, OU and many more.

The bars are packed on Saturdays for college football and people are SUPER into their college football teams. Even if they aren't super into their college football team they generally know what is going on.

the Rockets are a million miles behind NCAA football and NFL.

MotownMadness · Post #52 » by **MotownMadness** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:18 pm

Football I like more than Basketball from a sport perspective but NBA just has more storylines and drama for me that I enjoy following daily unlike the NFL.

But the NFL advantage for me is on game day and how important every game is. I just get way more invested and emotional when wathching Football cause of this aspect. NBA just kinda drags and the regular season just doesn't have that sort of impact with how many games they play.

HeartBreakKid · Post #53 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:18 pm

HotTubMike wrote:
queridiculo wrote:Don't underestimate how many people would never watch this sport due to the ethnic makeup of the league.

Basketball isn't going to displace football or baseball any time soon.

You realize the NFL has pretty much the same percentage of black athletes as the NBA right?

I think numbers will say NFL is the most popular but where I live its college football by a long long shot. The Texans are really popular but college football just feels like it effects almost everyone because their are so many teams with so many alumni in Houston.. UT, A&M, UH, Baylor, Rice, LSU, OU and many more.

The bars are packed on Saturdays for college football and people are SUPER into their college football teams. Even if they aren't super into their college football team they generally know what is going on.

the Rockets are a million miles behind NCAA football and NFL.

It's the star power though. How many great players in the NBA are white? And those that are, are European not American.

It makes a difference with a lot of people.

Infinite Llamas · Post #54 » by **Infinite Llamas** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:20 pm

MartinToVaught wrote:Nope. Football is still king - both the NFL and college.

You're probably right but...

**** the NFL and college football

Post #55 » by **bwgood77** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:24 pm

HotTubMike wrote:
I think numbers will say NFL is the most popular but where I live its college football by a long long shot. The Texans are really popular but college football just feels like it effects almost everyone because their are so many teams with so many alumni in Houston.. UT, A&M, UH, Baylor, Rice, LSU, OU and many more.

The bars are packed on Saturdays for college football and people are SUPER into their college football teams. Even if they aren't super into their college football team they generally know what is going on.

the Rockets are a million miles behind NCAA football and NFL.

Of course in Austin there is next to zero NBA discussion. Not even a lot of NFL discussion, but the sports bars are still packed on NFL Sundays. There is like a team watch party at some bar for every team.

I think in Texas and southeast of Texas it's ALL college football and most everywhere else it's the NFL.

The NBA might be slightly closing some gap but the NFL dwarfs it and always will. I don't think concussions impact fan bases too much. Sure, fewer kids may play it but there will never be a shortage of NFL players.

Stuff like fixing games like with Donaghy and even the rumors of the draft being fixed (even though it obviously isn't), hurt a sport far more than concussions.

Then when the Warriors are like the Harlem Globetrotters playing the Washington Generals every night that takes a lot of joy out of being a fan for a very large portion of fans.

Patches Perry · Post #56 » by **Patches Perry** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:33 pm

People always overlook scheduling too. Football has America on lock because the standard workweek is M-F 8-5. Football has a monopoly on Saturday, all day, and Sunday, all day, when most people are off. They also have set time slots for those days, which means you don't have to look up times. This means that it's not even fully about the sport, it's about the tradition. People tailgate, have cookouts and drink and so forth all in the name of football games.

Football is also much easier to be a fan of a team, because it's much more of a team sport. Basketball places more value on the individual, so it's harder for fans to stay committed to the team when so much of the team's success is contingent on 1 or 2 individuals. The NBA has in a way lost ground in this regard, because players are being encouraged to move around more and more. Your favorite team's success is contingent upon 1 guy, and you're not sure he'll be around beyond next season. Hard to really get on board with that.

Football also has the advantage of 1 game meaning more. 16 games vs. 82. Playoff game vs. Playoff series. Super bowl vs. Finals 7 game series. The games are more meaningful because there are less of them, and in the playoffs, every game is a game 7, win or go home.

Basketball has some advantages, but they don't come close to eclipsing the advantages that football has. From scheduling on prime days, to an event more conducive to social gatherings, to a league set up better for parity. NFL and CFB would need a disaster in order to turn those tides. They have things totally locked down.

Wallace_Wallace · Post #57 » by **Wallace_Wallace** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:37 pm

MartinToVaught wrote:Nope. Football is still king - both the NFL and college.

It is, but I hate the fact that their offseason is longer than their actual season. Furthermore, the NBA offseason has so much more interesting topics to talk about regarding the star players (Lebron/KD/Irving/Westbrook), free agents/trades, and overall basketball topics (analytics, player comparisons from different eras). The NFL/NCAA's offseason is actual boring, no one gives a crap if Matthew Stafford signs the richest contract in the NFL; we just can't wait for the season to start. NBA feels like is all year around. That's what I love about it.

jokeboy86 · Post #58 » by **jokeboy86** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:49 pm

I love the NBA more than any other pro sport but when did the NBA pass MLB or did I miss something? I've said this before the only reason that the national sports media thinks the NBA is more popular than MLB is one because of national tv ratings but the main reason is because the NBA gives the modern (24/7) sports media something to always talk about on their shows. Whether its watching NBA players social media accounts for perceived slights or disses or who they take pictures with or FA movement. Social media would have you believe the NBA is the most popular sport in the country. To the national media MLB doesn't give them any juicy story lines, or flashy highlights and they think if the best player in MLB isnt on the Yankees or Red Sox who cares(no stars). But the ironic thing about the national media's POV is how many cities can you realistically say that the NBA team is more popular than the MLB team?

For example Bucks have been to the playoffs 3 of the past 5 years and last year Giannis had the 2nd most votes in the East and yet for the past 5 years they've been in the bottom 5 in attendance. On the road last year they' were actually in the top 12 for attendance( and I bet they move up). The MLB team has been over .500 here twice in the past 5 years(no playoffs) and yet they've continually ranked in the top half of MLB attendance. I bring that up because people here say they'll support the Bucks if they start winning and that's why they don't go to games.

HotTubMike · Post #59 » by **HotTubMike** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:53 pm

HeartBreakKid wrote:
HotTubMike wrote:
queridiculo wrote:Don't underestimate how many people would never watch this sport due to the ethnic makeup of the league.

Basketball isn't going to displace football or baseball any time soon.

You realize the NFL has pretty much the same percentage of black athletes as the NBA right?

I think numbers will say NFL is the most popular but where I live its college football by a long long shot. The Texans are really popular but college football just feels like it effects almost everyone because their are so many teams with so many alumni in Houston.. UT, A&M, UH, Baylor, Rice, LSU, OU and many more.

The bars are packed on Saturdays for college football and people are SUPER into their college football teams. Even if they aren't super into their college football team they generally know what is going on.

the Rockets are a million miles behind NCAA football and NFL.

It's the star power though. How many great players in the NBA are white? And those that are, are European not American.

It makes a difference with a lot of people.

True there is more white star power in the NFL but the NFL is still overwhelmingly black and most of the best offensive players are black there are basically no star white wide receivers or running backs... QB is a bit mixed with good black (wilson/Newton)and white QB's (Rodgers/Brady) .... Defensive players are mixed too Von Miller/JJ Watt.

Same with big time college football... it is overwhelming black and still the most popular sport in the south by farrr. SEC teams are full of black players (in the most conservative/traditionally racist) part of the country and they are still by far the most popular sports teams in those states.

Post #60 » by **Jeff Van Gully** » Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:56 pm

it should be. the NBA is a shining example of what a professional league can be. the players are equitable stakeholders and the moral compass of the institution is sound as a result. the environment is generally in good faith. we should all be pleased with this.

i'm a guilty football fan. but it's clear that americans will love the game (with their money) no matter what. so there is little incentive to change, for better or worse.

Will basketball be America's favorite sport?