Are the NBA ratings down because of superteams?

[ItsDanger]

Your real problem is 10 years from now when the growth market has more discretionary income but will spend it elsewhere. They were busy playing video games during the time when they could have been attracted to the product. Right now, the product is stale which can be seen in other sports as well. There are other reasons but people can't discuss the business/marketing aspects without acting like emotional children.

[Yuri Vaultin]

General apathy. There are bigger things going on in the world and basketball has put a crap product on the floor. I've watched more netflix than basketball this year because it's been more entertaining. Also, I support a team that has not had a single home game this year and, frankly the whistle/refs seems extra appalling (like WWE inept). Seems like the NBA is trying to manufacture wins/losses more so this season.

[MotownMadness]

Really what's the worst thing that can happen with down ratings? We get a lower salary cap like before and everyone's contracts start to adjust to it over time?

[HEKTOR]

Has to be multiple reasons:

1. Less people watching TV - instead, streaming, watching Netflix, etc
2. League is too soft
3. Players controlling the league - dictating where they go, forming super-teams, etc
4. No defense
5. Politics in sports
6. Little to no fans at games
7. Too much load management
8. Players/teams not taking the regular season very seriously

I'm sure there are other reasons too.

[JonFromVA]

... I'm sure there are other reasons too.

Probably the lack of narratives.

[handsome salary]

Local NBA games through Fox sports are not available with NBA Direct Pass, Sling, Youtube, Hulu or any other streaming service. Just cable and dish. That leaves me out.

[Johnlac1]

Ratings are down because the game is dominated by the three point shot is almost unwatchable. Average fans don't want to see 40-50 three balls a game per side.
Star players are ganging up on some teams thumbing their noses at the idea of winning through drafting.
Plus, the woke politics drove many away. LeBron James helped kill a lot of interest.
The commissioner is a disaster.
It might be too late to save the league.

[G35]

Never understood why any casual watcher or fan would be concerned over the ratings for NBA and other sports. That is something for the owners and NBA to be concerned about. All we have to do is watch if we are enjoying it/interested , and dont watch if we are not.

Casual fans are the ones that push niche interests into that top tier. I have followed niche interests and seen how it is before and after:

- the NBA since the late 70's
- comic books since the lates 70's
- videogames since the late 70's

These were not seen by casuals as anywhere near mainstream. If you were around during that time, it was looked down upon by most of society. Particularly comics and videogames...these were for nerds/geeks (before the casuals entered) and the NBA was barely on television.

The diehards/tryhards are the lifeblood of niche interests, casuals are the ones that make it profitable. But each are enjoying the product for different reasons. If the popularity of the that interest wanes at all, then the casual dips out. The diehard will stick around but only if the product is providing close to the original content.

Owners don't care about casuals or diehards, but they know they have to cater to them to keep the money flowing...but owners will cater to the casuals more than the diehards...because the know the diehards will stay no matter what.

Its like being in a relationship with two different people...you try harder to entertain the person you know might not stick around but you take for granted the person that has been there through everything.....

[MotownMadness]

Never understood why any casual watcher or fan would be concerned over the ratings for NBA and other sports. That is something for the owners and NBA to be concerned about. All we have to do is watch if we are enjoying it/interested , and dont watch if we are not.

Casual fans are the ones that push niche interests into that top tier. I have followed niche interests and seen how it is before and after:

- the NBA since the late 70's
- comic books since the lates 70's
- videogames since the late 70's

These were not seen by casuals as anywhere near mainstream. If you were around during that time, it was looked down upon by most of society. Particularly comics and videogames...these were for nerds/geeks (before the casuals entered) and the NBA was barely on television.

The diehards/tryhards are the lifeblood of niche interests, casuals are the ones that make it profitable. But each are enjoying the product for different reasons. If the popularity of the that interest wanes at all, then the casual dips out. The diehard will stick around but only if the product is providing close to the original content.

Owners don't care about casuals or diehards, but they know they have to cater to them to keep the money flowing...but owners will cater to the casuals more than the diehards...because the know the diehards will stay no matter what.

Its like being in a relationship with two different people...you try harder to entertain the person you know might not stick around but you take for granted the person that has been there through everything.....

Well said

[BenoUdrihFTL]

For me it's probably the fact that you never know which star players are actually going to be playing in any given featured nat TV game. There were a bunch of games on this past weekend but I'd already given all expectations by then. Hard to get excited for a game when you first have to check injury reports, and even then it could be a last-minute pull so there's really zero incentive to actually plan to sit down and watch a 2.5 hour event when you don't even know what product you'll be getting

And beyond that I just find it hard to get interested in too many non-Heat games (and even then, the league's ridiculous covid protocols that crippled Miami early on had me losing interest in bothering to watch Heat games for nearly a month). So many blowouts and again, missing players. Every night I have the option to stream literally any game in the league but if the Heat aren't playing I usually just stream a show. Which makes me think show/movie streaming services might actually be cutting into sports viewership

On the flip-side, I'm extremely excited for these upcoming playoffs

[Anticon]

Ratings are down because the game is dominated by the three point shot is almost unwatchable. Average fans don't want to see 40-50 three balls a game per side.

I was excited to catch up on the "epic" Curry and Tatum showdown from Sat.

But it was just a bunch of threes, some off balance and closely guarded.

It honestly is just no longer interesting seeing that style of play.

[Hornet Mania]

When the NBA has its next TV contract negotiation they need to have a 'come to Jesus' moment with all the channels they choose as their partners. Gently but firmly explain that only covering 6-8 teams consistently and constantly badgering stars on the other 22 teams to form super teams in those 6-8 locations devalues the entire league. If the channel wants to continue covering the league in that fashion they should not be awarded the broadcast rights.

Use the NFL as a template. Market players on every team. Talk about the bad teams too. Get the audience excited about incremental improvement (i.e. a longtime lotto team finally making the playoffs, a longtime first round fodder team finally advancing, etc) by treating these steps as significant.

In the NFL only 6-8 teams a year have a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl but they still cover the others quite a bit, even the absolute bottom feeders. It creates an atmosphere where every team is at least semi-significant in the eyes of the experts and therefore the eyes of the viewers, at worst your team gets coverage in 'woe is them' segments. Right now the NBA broadcasters take the exact opposite approach, it's basically 'form a super team, be in a big market or gtfo'.

Actually run segments that explain how the game works. It doesn't have to be that technical, but pump up stylistic differences between teams when they exist. When is the last time you heard an NBA broadcast really highlight the style of play a team has chosen outside of surface-level crap like 'this team likes to push the pace'? NFL viewers get segments about the West Coast offense, Wildcat formation, etc. there is no reason NBA broadcasts couldn't break down well run pick and rolls vs poorly run pick and rolls or the way a defense rotates in concert to take away open looks. The broadcasters treat the actual games and adjustments within them as secondary to social media banter, fashion choices and future free agent speculation and thus so do the viewers.

Until the NBA broadcasters stop marginalizing 75% of the league the viewers are not going to treat those teams seriously either. Until NBA broadcasters start treating individual regular season games as something interesting the viewers will not consider them interesting either. It is absolutely possible to change this dynamic, but it will probably take the league itself specifically asking broadcast partners to make changes.

[The Rebel]

Really what's the worst thing that can happen with down ratings? We get a lower salary cap like before and everyone's contracts start to adjust to it over time?

I know you were around 11 years ago when the NBA had to buy the Hornet's for the debt they owed to the league and MJ bought the Bobcats for $30 million and assumption of that debt to keep both teams from bankruptcy. That is what happens, it is no secret that teams were losing money prior to the current tv deal, and without a similar size of deal in 2023 it could be worse as most franchises are hundreds of millions in debt right now.

[donnieme]

Ratings are down because the game is dominated by the three point shot is almost unwatchable. Average fans don't want to see 40-50 three balls a game per side.

I was excited to catch up on the "epic" Curry and Tatum showdown from Sat.

But it was just a bunch of threes, some off balance and closely guarded.

It honestly is just no longer interesting seeing that style of play.

Cant relate. Curry is the one guy whose threes are fun to watch. Maybe you just caught the highlights. Threes are boring when chopped up as clips. The full game was great. Highlights don't show defensive progression and how Curry is beating schemes to find his shot. =

[lars_rosenberg]

NBA ratings are down for the same reason every other sports league’s ratings are down: nobody watches sports anymore.

The Masters pulled in the worst ratings since 1957.

Viewership in the WNBA is up; MMA as well, IIRC.

That's a totally different scale, you can't really use niche sports as a benchmark.

[IG2]

I don't know where you get the idea that ratings were the best ever between 2011-2019, while they have been relatively stable, they are not even close to the best ever. Ratings have never come close to the ratings the NBA got in the 90s,

Read again. I said SOME of the best ever, which is true. TNT set quite a few records during that period.

And yes, almost everything back in the pre-internet era had better ratings. Doesn't actually prove anything besides the limited choices people had for entertainment back then.

[ILOVEIT]

Why should fans care about the regular season if the players don't?

This...omg this x's infinity!!!! lol

And it's worse this year partly because of compressed schedule...but watching the Net's team be completely comfortable losing a few games here and there as long as they are in the playoffs....pathetic.

But really...I think its' having Harden whine until he get's his way.....
Griffin....not try a single dunk to save his legs for a team that matters....
Kevin Love...constantly out...likely doing the same thing.

Super team thing started with LeBron...made worse with Durant.
THEN...continued with Kawhi....the year he refused to come back "due to injury" AND sitting out until he got a trade.
Final nail...Harden spending his time at strip clubs (during covid) then whining and getting fat so he could crap his way out of Houston.

At LEAST teams like Philly, Bucks, Warriors, Utah, Denver...are playing their asses off.

[yoyoboy]

I've just found myself bored personally. The product lacks variety now because the 3 point line has frankly broken the game so teams essentially all play the same. Stars are out seemingly every marquee game. The regular season is meaningless, though to be fair that's always been the case, and it's possible we just don't have the attention spans to watch it regardless anymore. The media focuses on pointless drama and that's how the NBA is marketed. The commentators and analysts are the worst across the major sports and lots of times make watching a game not on mute unbearable. There's just nothing pulling me in anymore, and I'd rather discuss on forums than actually tune in to watch to be honest.

The UFC has definitely been stealing my attention away as far as sports go.

[Jkam31]

Name another sport with zero rivalries absolutely zero that’s embarrassing, name another sport where stars are recruiting each other non stop and teaming up

[Anticon]

Ratings are down because the game is dominated by the three point shot is almost unwatchable. Average fans don't want to see 40-50 three balls a game per side.

I was excited to catch up on the "epic" Curry and Tatum showdown from Sat.

But it was just a bunch of threes, some off balance and closely guarded.

It honestly is just no longer interesting seeing that style of play.

Cant relate. Curry is the one guy whose threes are fun to watch. Maybe you just caught the highlights. Threes are boring when chopped up as clips. The full game was great. Highlights don't show defensive progression and how Curry is beating schemes to find his shot. =

Yeah definitely just the highlights. But in the old days I never had this issue, it always made me intrigued to watch the full game (or want to tune in to the next one).

I take your point on beating schemes, it nonetheless is monotonous to me.