Are the NBA ratings down because of superteams?

[ILOVEIT]

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

Another good point....What are the really rivalries now? Are there any? At least with Warriors you had Clippers/Warriors....Cavs vs Warriors....Warriors vs Houston...rating were skyrocketing.

Now it's like a bunch of guys just talk it up...and say...hmmm....let's play together.

Only rivalry right now is Lakers vs Clippers...and that's really pushing it.

BTW...all of the big market teams have proven they aren't elite....Celtics are clearly not ready...New York is trash. Net's are coasting. Lakers...Lebron and AD aren't even there half the time lol. Clippers are clearly flawed.

Nets are a super team on paper....and the rest of the league's best are flawed big time.

[clyde21]

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

louder for the people in the back

[The Rebel]

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.

There wasn't cable or satellite in the 90s? No internet either? That's actually funny that you think that, considering realgm started in the 90s. Espn started in the early 80s, and almost all the channels found on cable channels have been around since the 80s.

Those records they break are like cherry picked stats, **** like this is the highest rated game on Tuesday in the middle of February that started at 6:55 on a cable network since 2005.

Look up ratings, there is a reason they use mid 2000s for all their hype, because the ratings today are laughable compared to what the NBA even got 20 years ago.

[jokeboy86]

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.

Its as stupid as music fans saying whose the best artists by how many records they’ve sold and hits they’ve had. They dont work for the record label nor are they making any money off the artists. You want to say to them “why do you care?”. Judging music, art or entertainment by how much money it makes is stupid if you’re not financially benefitting from it.

[nbanflguy]

Politics are a huge problem. Anyone who disagrees is in denial.
No rivalries. All the players are buddy buddy
Small market teams dont matter
Super teams. Super teams. Super teams.
All the teams have the same play style. Just spam 3's. Most 3's taken wins
Load management, resting, etc. Regular season is a joke
No defense
Stats are just BS and mean nothing now. No one cares about double doubles or 30 point games. Over 30 players in the league average over 20 ppg

[Gabe Ball]

I don't think that you could flat out attribute the NBA ratings being down to the existence of superteams, but I do think that it's a contributing factor. One example could be that players of superteams don't even try all that hard during the regular season, which makes fans equally uninterested in the regular season and only care about PO. There's also the obvious case that superteams kinda make games less interesting, especially during matches where they go against non-superteams.

[Triple M]

Rattngs might be down but i believe engagement is still healthy and maybe ratings are a dated way to messure engagement

[Bornstellar]

I think superteams drive ratings up. And if anything the NBA has a lot of parity at the moment as none of us would likely be surprised to see like 5 different teams end up winning it all.

The answer is 3 point spam fests leading to constant blowouts, no fans for most of the year, and the mountain of injuries and games lost due to COVID protocol

[Antinomy]

I’ve personally stopped watching most games besides Bucks because:

1. I never know who’s suiting up to play on any given night

2. Constant large market pandering

3. 3 pointers galore

4. Too much gray area with how rules are applied

5. Star players sitting out marquee matchups in the regular season

[Cyrusman122000]

Sounds like something you desperately want to believe.

Cord cutting is one of the reasons for decline in TV ratings in general but the NBA still has suffered the most dramatic decrease in viewership among major sports. I believe a big part of it has to do with their incessant virtue signaling and bowing down to the woke cult. But let's see if my theory holds up when we get the next MLB ratings..

It hit the MLB harder and I am fairly certain it hit the NHL harder as well. Or at the very least the NHL playoffs last year suffered severely.

Saying it's because they have BLM stuff is like some tin foil stuff - that's literally stuff Sean Hannity promotes. There has already been research on it and there is almost no connection...and logically thinking about it why would there be? Most people who watch the NBA are liberal, most are not even white.

Sports that aren't particularly big on BLM have all suffered major decreases except the UFC more or less. There's no connection at all. Even if it were true it's almost like trying to use some bizarre form of social pressure to remove the players protests. Realistically speaking, if someone actually likes basketball they're not going to stop watching it because of BLM - that barely makes sense. Why any real fan of the NBA would care about that is beyond me.

The NFL and UFC have crap I dont like at all but I'm a real fan of those sports so I'll still watch them. The idea that a tiny % of very casual fans who are probably overly political themselves are going to stop watching is some crisis to actual fans of the sport is silly. Oh no, the thing I like is slightly less popular than before - at worst the entertainers will only make 250 mil instead of 300 mil!

What makes you think most NBA fans are liberal? That was not true at all prior to 2020. I can’t say the same now. Nnba had fans of all types. Liberal, moderate, conservative, Republican, democrat, old, young, you name it.

Now idk, but I’m guessing they have lost a share of conservative people.

I watched nonstop from 1997-2019 but have gave up a lot of nba once they got political last year. I watch basketball for the entertainment. I don’t watch it to know how players feel about the national anthem, or how happy they are that democrats won the senate, or their feelings on social injustice. They have aright to their opinions but I don’t wanna hear them.
The nba didn’t used to be like this. When Rodney king was killed in the early 90s even though it was so awful it didn’t turn the nba super political. When 9/11 happened or the war in Iraq the nba didn’t get super political. This is more of a new age thing. All sports do it but the nba is by far the most politicalized sport

[monopoman]

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.

Wait, but the Masters had the BLM movement so that is why they have their lowest ratings since 1957.

I love when people claim that BLM is the reason sports are down when even sports that didn't get political at all are down also.

[USWAY]

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

Honestly it's kind of weird but this is really true in terms of the rivalries. I can't name another sport where there isn't on single matchup between two teams that I want watch no matter what. I barely watch baseball anymore and if I see the Yankees and Redsox I'll throw it on.

I'm assuming a lot of that's just due to so many people being fans of players instead of teams these days, especially young people.

[RTran85]

Who still pays for cable TV in North America? Everyone streams or has an IPTV

[sunskerr]

They make billions of dollars and you're concerned about their ratings?

[SupaManu]

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.

Wait, but the Masters had the BLM movement so that is why they have their lowest ratings since 1957.

I love when people claim that BLM is the reason sports are down when even sports that didn't get political at all are down also.

The masters was down because Tiger didn’t play. He’s always such a huge draw and so many people solely watch to see him play. Golf also seems to be lacking real rivalries right now. Without Tiger golf has no one really right now with the personality and star power to draw in the casual fans.

[slicedbread2]

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.

Definitely agree about the league becoming bland. They could use the NFL model and actually market the game and teams whether they are good or bad at the end of the day they get some spotlight and they could try to bring some positives in a bleak year for teams. I really hate the route they've gone towards. Paul Pierce irked me the most and it was funny seeing him dry snitch himself on the internet.

UFC has been great. The Israel Adesanya dude has really piqued my attention over the past while with his unorthodox style. I'd give anything to see him fight Jon Jones in a match up of the last style bender vs bones and I'd want to see the latter get wrecked although he'd probably find a way to screw it all up given his past history of failed drug tests and being a piece of crap.

[yellowknifer]

The terrible officiating is causing some of it.

Entitled superstars and a lack of loyalty.

You don't see underdog teams make runs in the NBA in large part because of the two things above. The NBA has long felt superstars sell tickets. They aren't completely wrong but they are wrong to give them favorable calls. And they do. Some teams suffer more than others but all teams inevitably do.

Rule changes have hurt too. Not enough defense is allowed. Guys like Harden and Young drawing shooting fouls for what should be offensive fouls. Too much emphasis on 3pt shooting in part because they also let teams get away with moving screens. It may be they need to remove the corner 3 as well but I know many appreciate great post play and we just don't get the same chance to see it anymore.

Just my thoughts. I hope the league folds personally and the players buy it back and fix these things. Likelihood that happens is almost 0 though.

[monopoman]

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.

Wait, but the Masters had the BLM movement so that is why they have their lowest ratings since 1957.

I love when people claim that BLM is the reason sports are down when even sports that didn't get political at all are down also.

The masters was down because Tiger didn’t play. He’s always such a huge draw and so many people solely watch to see him play. Golf also seems to be lacking real rivalries right now. Without Tiger golf has no one really right now with the personality and star power to draw in the casual fans.

My point is people are always quick to point at politics when I think it takes a lot more than that for a true fan to give it up. Give ya an example if Starbucks had a BLM cup for a period of time where they donated say 10% to BLM causes, and some got really pissed and decided to boycott it they might stick to that for a few weeks but if they really care about Starbucks coffee they sure as **** won't give it up longer than say a month or two.

Sure some casual fan that would watch at most 5-10 games a year, he might not care about giving up the NBA but the die hard fans that makeup the vast majority of viewers I say no. I also think these causes can bring just as many to the sport so it works both ways.

I think the two biggest factors are lack of fans in the building it makes every game feel like a friendly game against two teams more or less, and even the players seem less invested. The other factor is viewing habits changing kids that grew up with Youtube and 4-5 minute videos don't have the attention span to watch these games in some cases, and as stated you can watch a Youtube clip that will show the highlights, which was not a thing back in say the 90s or early 00's as much.

It also doesn't help when teams fake minor injuries to rest their best players for in some cases 4-5 games in a row.

[RunOKC]

A few reasons that come to mind

-The games feel too much like a scrimmage on most nights without the fans, which imo is also compounded by the fact that every team chucks a billion 3's a game
-Teams like the Nets and Lakers not having their stars available for a lot of the season probably sways viewership considering the amt of national games/attention they get
-Players always being labeled questionable (Gambling) / sitting out big matchups/Natl Tv matchups due to B2B's/etc
-Politics/BLM/China etc I'm sure plays a small factor
-'inconsistent' officiating

Put all that together and you've got a decline in the ratings

[Tanks1]

hey the first ratings are down post for 2021!!!!
right before the George Floyd verdict....

players are too involved in social issues
players are too soft
games aren't fun
lerons fault
superteams
they shoot too many 3's
blah...blah..blah....go watch baseball for 4 hours or hockey