NBA viewership down

[wco81]

NBA is down due to lack of stars actually starring. Load management is a part of that. That's an issue with the organizations as much or more than the stars.

I've brought up Joel Embiid and the team playing 1 night vs Charlotte and knowing he'd miss the potential measurement game of the Sixers Big 3 vs Cleveland. The Sixers organization benefits from the surer win vs the league benefitting from a eye catching have on a Saturday. That kinda stuff is happening all over the league.

The teams over the past couple years is the team's that have star power aren't winning. Even Boston stars aren't exactly the biggest in the game... It's a strength in numbers with 0 holes type team and none are that eye catching. I'm a big fan of Brown and have a personal connection to him from his college days and still find it hard to actually follow them.

Stories! The new CBA has killed the stories and I don't see enough of the media or experts discussing that fact.
It was only a couple of seasons ago when it was a consensus that the NBA offseason and trade deadline was as big a cultural discussion as even the NFL's regular season. Not talking about ratings but I'm talking about headlines. Player empowerment was helping the league because the most newsworthy thing of this season has been Jimmy Butler, and because of the CBA that's not even going to happen likely. Biggest story of the summer outside of Olympics was a minor mole hill of Paul George changing teams at near 35yo leaving another old team. Then much like last year with Dame the trade has hardly paid off because of these rules and budgets that make it tougher to flesh out your roster successfully and an injury kills your season even if you can return later.

CBA is too restrictive. Kills these trade requests that were carrying the league a few seasons agoYou pretty much are required to pair a young rookie Max level player with old ones line Paul George.

Stars can't star and remain on winning teams. You see it all over the league the most consistent teams are those with young rookie deals that are just starting or yet to start even with Mobley and the Cavs and Garland on a young max. Orlando, Houston, OKC, Grizzlies and nobody cares about those 5 teams right now... Maybe Memphis but they've been down last couple seasons.

Even though Jokic isn't a huge draw it would help if the likes of Denver, Sixers, Lakers, Suns, Warriors were carrying the league right now. Even in NYC they're getting there, but the masses don't see their players as stars.

By the time these younger teams take over the league to where people care about them intentionally, they will have to breakup those teams due to costs as we're seeing in Denver.


NBA also needs a flex tv schedule, it's just time for that 100%. That would also allow them to showcase the young surprise teams when they arise and improve quality of what the masses see.

We will see if the Second Apron scheme that Silver pushed for brings the parity which he thinks will make the NBA more popular.

He thinks parity is one reason the NFL is more popular, because in the NFL, a couple of very good drafts could make a team a playoffs team. In the NBA, the margins are thinner because smaller roster so every one of those draft picks count a lot more. NFL teams can miss with their 1st round pick but still get very good starters in the middle rounds. NBA teams, if they miss on a first round pick, especially a high lotto pick, it just stalls any kind of rebuild.

Go back to the seasons when the NBA had teams winning multiple titles within a few years. Were the ratings better then? Did fans tune in more to watch dynasties?

If a team like the Celtics have to bring their payroll down because of the second apron and they're just among the pack of contenders, you'd think their attendance and local ratings would be hit. But if they repeat this year, maybe they get better ratings not just locally but in national games as well. By now, Tatum and Brown should be big ratings draws but they're still not at the level of Lebron and Curry when it comes to national games ratings.

Presumably why the Lakers vs. Warriors games is featured in prime time tomorrow while 76ers-Celtics is not.

[CallMeKahn]

The ratings issue isn't limited to the NBA. It's a larger trend in sports that isn't the NFL where numbers are down. The NFL continues to crush in traditional ratings because its product is supremely accessible. And Sunday Ticket is hella easy to figure out. The NBA, NHL, MLS, etc. are all primarily limited to a regressive-base paywall that is cable for its "premier" games. Regional Sports channels, streaming services with funky blackout rules (I tried League Pass a few years ago, but the blackout rules were too much, so I cancelled it), prohibitively expensive cable bills, and a lack of marketing that isn't older generation stars kills it for me.

My interest was tacitly killed this year when ESPN keeps pushing SAS and Bronny to my phone. I had to uncheck the NBA on my interest to get it to stop.

I've said it before, the new media deals will help fix this to a degree. It's difficult to have interest when you can't watch a game. As such, I may get back into it if I can watch on it NBC or ABC. But screw me if I'm paying for cable when I have to pay so much for streaming services where I get a more accessible and convenient product.

[JM00n69]

NBA **** up the marketing a long time ago. There's more star players today than there ever was and plenty of storylines to push from the young CAVS/OKC, the two headed BOS team with proven all stars leading them, the superb individual seasons Giannis and Luka are having, the all time offensive season from Jokic, the never before seen 2k cheatcode that is Wemby. The way a HOU has overachieved so far. MEM/NY - plenty to write about them.

But no- Top story on ESPN is Curry/LBJ.

I live in London so because of the time difference I watch the games early morning after they've already finished. All the commercial breaks are cut out and I can skip forward when I want. During the PO's I watch live games and it's a drag. The 3AM West matchup tips off at 03:30, I don't mind the breaks because it's playoff games but I'd never watch the volume of games I do if I had to watch them live during regular season.

Plus you guys have the local blackout issues I've heard of. And the new tablet generation of youth has the attention span of a goldfish, good luck getting any casuals to tune in. The league needs to shake up the streaming/marketing asap, I think that accounts for a huge chunk of their revenue.

[SirCharles3434]

Read on Twitter

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What is the NBA going to do when KD, Steph, LBJ retires? They got to start marketing the young stars hard. I don’t think they do a good job at that, IMO.

[John Murdoch]

I mentioned this years ago as something the league was going to regret, and it's been mentioned in this thread already, but the biggest thing is the NBA marketing stars instead of teams. The only way to build diehard sports fans is by getting them to cheer the laundry. The NFL does this perfectly. MLB does this as well but is more regional in popularity. The NBA is the one league that wants you to watch the stars, and the franchises are the afterthought. It was a horrible marketing strategy 4-5 years ago, and now they are starting to see what happens with that strategy. Players have a shelf life. They retire, they get hurt, they decline. You don't want to build LeBron fans, you want to build Cavs fans (for example) who will pass that love on to their kids. Building a sports league any other way simply not going to work long-term. Gen Z/Alpha are going to be very tough to sustain as sports fan, but you have a much better chance to do it if they fall in love with the laundry. If they just like the sport, or just like a certain player or two, then it might have short-term benefit for the league, but long-term it's not the way you want the sport marketed. Combine that with the unattractive on court product, and you can understand why interest (at least in terms of watching games) is down.

The NBA needs to do something to make the game more appealing to watch. I don't know what the answer is, but hopefully they are seriously searching for it.

Great post . I think the 1st step should be hire fiba refs and start over. If it takes a lockout so be it. I have no ties to barcelona but i am a fan becuase of Messi , im sure its like that for casual nba fans as well just kinda comes with the territory . Allow physicality , ref it like pickup ball...if ur not bleeding or super blatant than play on . Will attract alot of the football crowd that way as well

[breezypeezy]

Viewership is down because the NBA game suffers from the spectacle of 70 to 80 moonball chucks every contest.

Its become less of a basketball game and more of a H-OR-S-E contest.

The 3 point shooting needs to be drastically curtailed to get interest back.

[trickshot]

I bet you the average viewer doesn't actually think to reason a 15 footer is 'purer' than a 25 footer. The league is just in a downslope before the next great iconic teams and players come through. Say what you say but none of these current guys are bringing in fan and media attention to their team like the Lebron/KD/Steph generation. It was an aberration that was always going to cool off at some point. We still haven't even given them their flowers for getting people to watch Olympic basketball in one of the most negatively covered Olympics of all time.

[Thaddy]

Viewership is down because the NBA game suffers from the spectacle of 70 to 80 moonball chucks every contest.

Its become less of a basketball game and more of a H-OR-S-E contest.

The 3 point shooting needs to be drastically curtailed to get interest back.

The mid range needs to be become more valuable. It'll make the product better.

[Crunch 99]

It's not news to this thread, but the NFL is set to crush the NBA today.

Merry Christmas all!

[Larry_Russell]

Simple reasons
1) refs suck, the rules they pretend to enforce is moronic and they disallow competitiveness and promote travels etc. Their bias in games is 100% real amd very noticeable.
2) they dont promote the best teams and instead look to actively demote them ie: lakers gsw xmass day game? Seriously?

[bluejerseyjinx]

There was a time I was as much a basketball junkie as a football junkie. For me things started over two decades ago when the all star game became such a joke. Can't even remember the last time I even watch the all star game to be honest. Then a guy named Lebron James came into the league and the landscape of the NBA changed forever IMHO. Once Lebron left Cleveland and went to Miami to a stacked team so he could be in the finals every year was a bad look for me. I won't even get into all the other moves he's made since then because I'm sure most of you in here know anyway. Once Lebron became bigger than the NBA shield I became sick to my stomach and I became totally disgusted with the NBA as many other players became less loyal to the teams that drafted them. Then a kid named Kevin Durant came along a few years later and left a very good Thunder team to go join the Warriors who already was a championship team that had won 73 games the previous year. Even though I was glad they prevented Lebron from winning the Championship the next two years, it was a terrible look for me. Since then I only watch the Celtics games and who they happen to be playing on those nights. The NBA became way too much of a players league, and once again, seemed bigger than the shield to me.
Then there are the officials. As someone who officiated basketball for 18 years myself, I understand where most are coming from here. I can't deny it. I see 4-5 bad calls almost every night I do watch games. And the last thing that is totally disgusting to me with the current NBA is the constant bitching after every whistle by the players and coaches. Lack of sportsmanship in the NBA for the most part has got thrown out the window. So for the past couple decades, once football season is over, I dive into college basketball outside of all my Celtic games and attend as many local high school games in my area. I still love basketball, just not the NBA. Hopefully I did not offend anyone from being honest with my feelings here. I could add more, but I got out all the main reasons why I don't enjoy the NBA as much as I used to many years ago.

[Infinite Llamas]

It's not news to this thread, but the NFL is set to crush the NBA today.

Merry Christmas all!

Merry Christmas to all

…and **** the NFL

[MavsDirk41]

There was a time I was as much a basketball junkie as a football junkie. For me things started over two decades ago when the all star game became such a joke. Can't even remember the last time I even watch the all star game to be honest. Then a guy named Lebron James came into the league and the landscape of the NBA changed forever IMHO. Once Lebron left Cleveland and went to Miami to a stacked team so he could be in the finals every year was a bad look for me. I won't even get into all the other moves he's made since then because I'm sure most of you in here know anyway. Once Lebron became bigger than the NBA shield I became sick to my stomach and I became totally disgusted with the NBA as many other players became less loyal to the teams that drafted them. The a kid named Kevin Durant came along a few years later and left a very good Thunder team to go join the Warriors who already was a championship team that had won 73 games the previous team. Even though I was glad they prevented Lebron from winning the Championship the next two years, it was a terrible look for me. Since then I only watch the Celtics games and who they happen to be playing on those nights. The NBA became way too much of a players league, and once again, seemed bigger than the shield to me.
Then there are the officials. As someone who officiated basketball for 18 years myself, I understand where most are coming from here. I can't deny it. I see 4-5 bad calls almost every night I do watch games. And the last thing that is totally disgusting to me with the current NBA is the constant bitching after every whistle by the players and coaches. Lack of sportsmanship in the NBA for the most part has got thrown out the window. So for the past couple decades, once football season is over, I dive into college basketball outside of all my Celtic games and attend as many high school games in my area. I still love basketball, just not the NBA. Hopefully I did not offend anyone from being honest with my feelings here. I could add more, but I got out all the main reasons why I don't enjoy the NBA as much as I used to many years ago.

Well said. And as far as the all star game, i cant remember when or why that became such a joke. I remember watching it when the players actually gave effort and competed. They played defense, ran offensive plays, and got back in transition D. Now its just a dunk contest and chucking 3s. Its been at least 10 years since i watched it. They should in all honesty just scrap it and the dunk contest. Have the 3 point contest and maybe a one on one or two on two contest.

[wco81]

Except were the ratings better with super teams or not?

[Godymas]

It's not news to this thread, but the NFL is set to crush the NBA today.

Merry Christmas all!

I'm pissed about this Netflix nonsense though, might have to look at alternatives, I am NOT paying $7 today just to watch 2 NFL games

[ItsDanger]

The same people complaining about higher costs due to streaming charges are the same people cheering on players getting their bag. It's come full circle. Somebody's got to to pay.

[G35]

NBA is down due to lack of stars actually starring. Load management is a part of that. That's an issue with the organizations as much or more than the stars.

I've brought up Joel Embiid and the team playing 1 night vs Charlotte and knowing he'd miss the potential measurement game of the Sixers Big 3 vs Cleveland. The Sixers organization benefits from the surer win vs the league benefitting from a eye catching have on a Saturday. That kinda stuff is happening all over the league.

The teams over the past couple years is the team's that have star power aren't winning. Even Boston stars aren't exactly the biggest in the game... It's a strength in numbers with 0 holes type team and none are that eye catching. I'm a big fan of Brown and have a personal connection to him from his college days and still find it hard to actually follow them.

Stories! The new CBA has killed the stories and I don't see enough of the media or experts discussing that fact.
It was only a couple of seasons ago when it was a consensus that the NBA offseason and trade deadline was as big a cultural discussion as even the NFL's regular season. Not talking about ratings but I'm talking about headlines. Player empowerment was helping the league because the most newsworthy thing of this season has been Jimmy Butler, and because of the CBA that's not even going to happen likely. Biggest story of the summer outside of Olympics was a minor mole hill of Paul George changing teams at near 35yo leaving another old team. Then much like last year with Dame the trade has hardly paid off because of these rules and budgets that make it tougher to flesh out your roster successfully and an injury kills your season even if you can return later.

CBA is too restrictive. Kills these trade requests that were carrying the league a few seasons agoYou pretty much are required to pair a young rookie Max level player with old ones line Paul George.

Stars can't star and remain on winning teams. You see it all over the league the most consistent teams are those with young rookie deals that are just starting or yet to start even with Mobley and the Cavs and Garland on a young max. Orlando, Houston, OKC, Grizzlies and nobody cares about those 5 teams right now... Maybe Memphis but they've been down last couple seasons.

Even though Jokic isn't a huge draw it would help if the likes of Denver, Sixers, Lakers, Suns, Warriors were carrying the league right now. Even in NYC they're getting there, but the masses don't see their players as stars.

By the time these younger teams take over the league to where people care about them intentionally, they will have to breakup those teams due to costs as we're seeing in Denver.


NBA also needs a flex tv schedule, it's just time for that 100%. That would also allow them to showcase the young surprise teams when they arise and improve quality of what the masses see.

We will see if the Second Apron scheme that Silver pushed for brings the parity which he thinks will make the NBA more popular.

He thinks parity is one reason the NFL is more popular, because in the NFL, a couple of very good drafts could make a team a playoffs team. In the NBA, the margins are thinner because smaller roster so every one of those draft picks count a lot more. NFL teams can miss with their 1st round pick but still get very good starters in the middle rounds. NBA teams, if they miss on a first round pick, especially a high lotto pick, it just stalls any kind of rebuild.

Go back to the seasons when the NBA had teams winning multiple titles within a few years. Were the ratings better then? Did fans tune in more to watch dynasties?

If a team like the Celtics have to bring their payroll down because of the second apron and they're just among the pack of contenders, you'd think their attendance and local ratings would be hit. But if they repeat this year, maybe they get better ratings not just locally but in national games as well. By now, Tatum and Brown should be big ratings draws but they're still not at the level of Lebron and Curry when it comes to national games ratings.

Presumably why the Lakers vs. Warriors games is featured in prime time tomorrow while 76ers-Celtics is not.

One of the big problems that people do not want to talk about is that draft picks are essentially shots in the dark.

- In 1980 Magic was a sure thing
- Larry Bird was drafted early because he was a sure thing
- Patrick Ewing was a sure thing and it is a rumor the league made sure the Knicks got the 1st pick
- David Robinson was a sure thing
- Shaq was a sure thing
- Tim Duncan was a sure thing

That was a different era when high school kids went to school for 3 or 4 years. Yes, Magic is an exception but for the most part #1 picks were sure things and you got to see them for 3 or 4 years and watch them develop basic skills and then come into the draft as a young man. Now teams are banking on 18 or 19 year olds that have not developed their basketball skills and are only looking at physical talent.

Physical talent is not everything, mental approach, ability to play within a system/with others were also considerations. There is never going to be another Larry Bird that comes from French Lick because any player that has a modicum of talent is immediately seen as a check by their family and agents. There will never be another David Robinson that will go to a military academy and sacrifice some of their prime years. There will never be another Tim Duncan that will stay four years in college and is an all time talent.

Number 1 picks are not a sure thing because these are not developed talents the same way talent is developed in college football....

[bledredwine]

I agree with the numerous posts saying the star quality is weak and the culture of three pointers is ruining the style of the game.

When you have guys with significant talents like Wembanyama and ANT focusing exclusively on three point shooting to adapt to the league’s meta, it’s time for a change.

You can count the true superstars with well rounded games on one hand.

It’s funny how everyone here was calling us old men yelling at clouds but the Nba being a snooze fest has gotten so bad that it’s now all over tiktok, commoners and debates in the news. Even prior modern fans are beginning to get annoyed with it. Go figure. Saw this coming for a long time.

[wco81]

I don't buy that Ant or Wemby would become bigger stars and increase ratings of their games by shooting more elbow jumpers than 3s and having 5 dunks in a game than 5 3-pointers.

[BadWolf]

Wemby took 16 triples today.