NBA viewership down

[Revived]

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[GrandTheftRondo]

Viewership is down in America but has skyrocketed worldwide, overall a net positive in viewership, not sure what’s happening in the USA but the world seems to be loving basketball.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/esfandiarbaraheni/2024/05/21/nbas-international-efforts-bearing-fruit-as-viewership-skyrockets/


If this trend continues the world is going to take over basketball, no more USA dream teams in 10 years time.

It’s amazing how Americans just want to continue to ignore how popular the NBA is globally.

When I started watching in Australia, NBA was popular but still only small in popularity in the grand scheme of things. These days you see kids everywhere into it. It’s the same in other countries.

I think maybe American fans are struggling with the fact so many of the new superstars are foreign born and don’t really relate to them as much.

The other main reason for the decline in viewership to me is the massive increase in player movement. Growing up the two conferences felt way more stable for a period of time. You were invested in stars rising to the top with their team. You had rivalries building up. These days within a few seasons the NBA seems to be flipped on its head. In the NFL people don’t care as much but given how small rosters are in the NBA, players moving is far bigger a deal.

[The KnicksFix]

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Yea, cause his offense is to spam 3’s
He’s part of the problem there too

[RRyder823]

Viewership is down in America but has skyrocketed worldwide, overall a net positive in viewership, not sure what’s happening in the USA but the world seems to be loving basketball.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/esfandiarbaraheni/2024/05/21/nbas-international-efforts-bearing-fruit-as-viewership-skyrockets/


If this trend continues the world is going to take over basketball, no more USA dream teams in 10 years time.

It’s amazing how Americans just want to continue to ignore how popular the NBA is globally.

When I started watching in Australia, NBA was popular but still only small in popularity in the grand scheme of things. These days you see kids everywhere into it. It’s the same in other countries.

I think maybe American fans are struggling with the fact so many of the new superstars are foreign born and don’t really relate to them as much.

The other main reason for the decline in viewership to me is the massive increase in player movement. Growing up the two conferences felt way more stable for a period of time. You were invested in stars rising to the top with their team. You had rivalries building up. These days within a few seasons the NBA seems to be flipped on its head. In the NFL people don’t care as much but given how small rosters are in the NBA, players moving is far bigger a deal.

The reason player movement doesn't affect the NFL list because NFL fans are by and large fans of the team 1st and foremost.

For a lot of NBA fans they're fans of a player (or players) and the team is just the jersey their guy wears.

That's all well and good but it works against long term growth. When those players they've been fans of since they were teenagers age out they tend to lose interest with the sport or simply don't follow it as closely as they did when they were younger

Versus a team fan who not only will most likely stay a fan their entire life but they'll also end up raising their kids to be fans of that team



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[JDR720]

Ant is probably the young star with personality, but he plays in Minnesota.

LeBron played in Cleveland and the league had no problem making him the face of the nba. So that type of mindset is just foolish because Minnesota is bigger than Cleveland in terms of market size too.

LeBron was also covered in high school as if he was going to be the next MJ (which he basically was).

The NBA (and NBA media) have put in very little to no effort in building up new stars. It's why every story is still about LeBron, Steph, KD etc.

Some of the issue is that the new NBA stars are mostly non-Americans. The NBA media (and typical American NBA fans) don't want to have non-Americans as the face of an American basketball league.

[RoyceDa59]

Let em play defense again.

[Revived]

I also got rid of cable. For the most part Sling doesn't give many Laker or Clipper games so I have to illegally Stream. It's really stupid how they black out local teams

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I did the same (re: cable) but this is true for me too…

[prophet_of_rage]

1) With Lebron, Steph and KD fading away.... the NBA has no new, exciting young stars that fans can connect with, i.e., the Hollywood star model.

Are you serious right now? Fans can connect and relate better to LeBron and KD than they can with the stars of today like Luka and Jokic for example?

Crazy athletic freaks are more connectable for fans than guys who don’t have elite or even good athleticism (by NBA standards) yet became top players through pure skill and talent?

Yeah im sorry but im not buying that.

Luka and Jokic are foreigners. The American fan has been raised on aspirational NBA supermen since the 90s Jordan push.

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[prophet_of_rage]

nba players are also very visible and exposed. compared to other sports, the nba's uniform cover up the least of a player's body so you see the individual more than the uniform. and the majority of the sport is black. you see the tattoos, you see the hair on their head, you see it all.

while other sports have alot of black athletes, they are mostly covered up by uniform. you dont even see their face in football. i think at some level, that also plays a factor to some.

Yes and just to add, I'm old enough that I remember that the NBA has ALWAYS come under heavy criticism. Tragic Johnson, Jordan shooting too much Iverson's clothes, it's always been like this.

Don't forget Peter Vescey and his N*ggerbockers in the 70s.

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[prophet_of_rage]

it's hard to have a discussion about this because politics is 100% a factor and discussing it, even in non-substantive way, is discouraged and penalized here

regardless of what you think of trump, it seems like everyone that goes against him ends up being a pile of dust. the media constantly attacked him and trust in media is at an all-time low. nba champions refused to go to the white house and theyre the only major sports league having a decline in ratings. majority of hollywood publicly hate him and movies suck now + the diddy stuff is starting to come out

there's something to that. i'm not sure what it is but you're lying to yourself if you don't think that plays a major part in the nba's declining popularity

The whiff of jackboots?

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[wegotthabeet]

Viewership is down in America but has skyrocketed worldwide, overall a net positive in viewership, not sure what’s happening in the USA but the world seems to be loving basketball.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/esfandiarbaraheni/2024/05/21/nbas-international-efforts-bearing-fruit-as-viewership-skyrockets/


If this trend continues the world is going to take over basketball, no more USA dream teams in 10 years time.

It’s amazing how Americans just want to continue to ignore how popular the NBA is globally.

When I started watching in Australia, NBA was popular but still only small in popularity in the grand scheme of things. These days you see kids everywhere into it. It’s the same in other countries.

I think maybe American fans are struggling with the fact so many of the new superstars are foreign born and don’t really relate to them as much.

The other main reason for the decline in viewership to me is the massive increase in player movement. Growing up the two conferences felt way more stable for a period of time. You were invested in stars rising to the top with their team. You had rivalries building up. These days within a few seasons the NBA seems to be flipped on its head. In the NFL people don’t care as much but given how small rosters are in the NBA, players moving is far bigger a deal.

International viewers don’t get their local games blacked out on streaming services. That should be the first thing they change. The games aren’t accessible without streaming “illegally”.

[moderndarwin]

There’s a lot of games. people in America are actually just less into sports than the generation before. There’s a lot more variety of what people are interested in.

The prior generation everyone shared the platform of how games would be watched (aka tv).

More options doesn’t make more people watch it. It’s simple to understand.

Anyone under 25 isn’t watching entire games anymore they will randomly pop in and out of games via streaming and apps.

[Scoundreldays]

I also got rid of cable. For the most part Sling doesn't give many Laker or Clipper games so I have to illegally Stream. It's really stupid how they black out local teams

Read on Twitter

I did the same (re: cable) but this is true for me too…

No way I would have all those at once lol. Currently only Sling and Prime and I split the cost for Sling.

[Mamba Mentality]

Let em play defense again.

Agreed, there needs to be a major shift on that end of the floor. Allow more physicality, hand checking, get rid of defensive three seconds, crack down on foul baiting (i.e. stop paying lip service and actually enforce the idea that contact generated by the offensive player is not a foul), and start handing out more aggressive fines/suspensions for flopping.

[Above The Rim]

The plethora of 3’s is the obvious answer. Also, the players don’t seem to have as much of an “edge” as well. Maybe different upbringings with the AAU track? For instance, I sometimes think people dislike Tatum because he seems like too good of a dude.

IMO the current NBA game is visually closer to watching women’s basketball than ever before. It’s just 3 pointers. Less physicality. I know the statistic that 3’s have really just replaced midrange shots, but there’s really a big difference in watching the game now.

[zeebneeb]

Let em play defense again.

Agreed, there needs to be a major shift on that end of the floor. Allow more physicality, hand checking, get rid of defensive three seconds, crack down on foul baiting (i.e. stop paying lip service and actually enforce the idea that contact generated by the offensive player is not a foul), and start handing out more aggressive fines/suspensions for flopping.

This has to go hand in hand with allowing taunting, and shoving pushing, and even fights, without throwing the players out.

This will build animosity, and competitive fires. Sport is all about that, and has been bleached out of the NBA. Technical fouls by refs for players doing things that made the NBA huge in its heyday, is just next level stupid.

No blood, no foul.

[Charlie Sollers]

How about starting games on time? Other leagues found a way to start games at their listed times but somehow the NBA can't figure it out.

[mg]

My son would watch games with me thru grade school and middle school. His favorite player Kobe retired when he was in HS and I don't believe he's watched an entire NBA game since.

Most kids these days will just catch the highlights on youtube or another platform. It's not like the NFL where every game actually matters.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Let em play defense again.

People on Twitter were complaining about the scoring in Thunder/Rockets games. The two best defenses in the league got complaints about scoring.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

There’s a lot of games. people in America are actually just less into sports than the generation before. There’s a lot more variety of what people are interested in.

The prior generation everyone shared the platform of how games would be watched (aka tv).

More options doesn’t make more people watch it. It’s simple to understand.

Anyone under 25 isn’t watching entire games anymore they will randomly pop in and out of games via streaming and apps.

Yeah, I don't think people really understand how different the viewing habits are for gen Z and especially alpha. They play video games more than any other generation and if they're not playing they're watching someone stream, or they're on tiktok.

Just to put in perspective how big gaming is the game awards just beat the damn superbowl

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