NBA destroyed the NFL on Christmas

[shrink]

Read on Twitter

Even as a Wolves fan, I would not describe the DAL-MIN game as “Ant comes up clutch.”

I hate when I have agendas pushed on me.

[Hornet Mania]

Let's see how many people actually watched. If quality NBA basketball is ignored in favor of NFL blowouts it's a black eye for the association.

But it is nice the games were so compelling this year. The NBA needed good contests to give them some chance against the NFL juggernaut, the teams gave them the best possible chance to stave off the invader.

[Wingy]

I legitimately don't get how it's been so long and people still don't understand why ratings are a poor assessment in the modern day due to changes in how media is consumed

It's like, you have to have had it explained to you by now, so either you're intentionally misunderstanding because you want to make a point, or you're just dumb. Either way it's pointless to keep trying to explain it.

Yes, it’s not that complex, but it’s the only measurement we have. Saying “destroyed” is foolish regardless when you don’t know how many eyeballs were on either product.

I don't know why you're so mad

And they were clearly talking about the quality of the product, not how many eyeballs were on it. I thought that was obvious, but then again, to someone who only uses ratings as a measurement for quality, I can see where you would get confused.

Who’s mad? Something that’s going to vary literally day-to-day (as in, the competitiveness of NBA games relative to NFL games) elicits a “woo hoo take that NFL!!” thread? Yeah, to me that’s silly. My b for having an alternate opinion.

Making it personal over something this dumb? Nice. Happy Holidays, enjoy.

[wade44]

Personally didn’t watch either. Both leagues have declined majorly

[Wingy]

Let's see how many people actually watched. If quality NBA basketball is ignored in favor of NFL blowouts it's a black eye for the association.

But it is nice the games were so compelling this year. The NBA needed good contests to give them some chance against the NFL juggernaut, the teams gave them the best possible chance to stave off the invader.

Thing is, NBA is more prone to blowouts than ever given the current “style” of play.

[LockoutSeason]

Let's see how many people actually watched. If quality NBA basketball is ignored in favor of NFL blowouts it's a black eye for the association.

But it is nice the games were so compelling this year. The NBA needed good contests to give them some chance against the NFL juggernaut, the teams gave them the best possible chance to stave off the invader.

It’s not a black eye for the NBA, it just means that high ratings =/= quality.

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[TwitterFingers]

If the NBA crushed the NFL what are the numbers? I’m skeptical.

[manlisten]

the nfl is overstepping by trying to take christmas too.. i could see it backfiring on them as by christmas most teams are either gearing up for the playoffs or tanking so games won’t be great

NFL games usually aren't great. That's the funniest thing about this whole narrative; people implying that NFL is ratings king because of the product. NFL is probably the least watchable of the big 3 sports. Nearly every Thursday night game is garbage and half of the Monday night games are too. Hell, so are half of the Sunday games.

[Hornet Mania]

Let's see how many people actually watched. If quality NBA basketball is ignored in favor of NFL blowouts it's a black eye for the association.

But it is nice the games were so compelling this year. The NBA needed good contests to give them some chance against the NFL juggernaut, the teams gave them the best possible chance to stave off the invader.

It’s not a black eye for the NBA, it just means that high ratings =/= quality.

Read on Twitter

The quality of a product, especially a pro sports league, isn't judged by one day. The NFL draws far more attention than the NBA because it's considered a superior product overall by the mainstream consumer, and that opinion has been reinforced over years. The regular season matters in that league, and tends to have closer games as well which drives public interest.

It's silly to argue that if the NBA loses the ratings battle on Christmas to the NFL it indicates that quality of play doesn't matter. The NFL has been putting out a better product the entire season up to this point, with many more compelling games, whereas one of the biggest storylines surrounding the NBA regular season is how fan interest has fallen off.

[bmurph128]

People are forgetting a few things here...

The games may not have been competitive (though a 22-10 game in the fourth quarter in football is still considered "competitive" IMO) - there are a few factors at play that favor the NFL dramatically: first, teams with MASSIVE fanbases played yesterday. Second, its the fantasy football championship round for most teams - and in my leagues, Lamar ended up being the QB on a team that made the championship. If that was me, I would have been hanging on to every play until he was taken out.

[Tor_Raps]

It's shouldn't be about what the ratings are just for 1 day. Problem with the NBA was that it has been trending downwards for years so this sort of thing slowly diminishes your product as people just stop giving a crap after a while.

Yesterday was a good first step but it needs to happen more often for people to start giving a crap again. All it takes is a bunch of stars load managing the next set of games and we'll be back where we started lol.

[Snotbubbles]

Let's see how many people actually watched. If quality NBA basketball is ignored in favor of NFL blowouts it's a black eye for the association.

But it is nice the games were so compelling this year. The NBA needed good contests to give them some chance against the NFL juggernaut, the teams gave them the best possible chance to stave off the invader.

It’s not a black eye for the NBA, it just means that high ratings =/= quality.

Read on Twitter

The quality of a product, especially a pro sports league, isn't judged by one day. The NFL draws far more attention than the NBA because it's considered a superior product overall by the mainstream consumer, and that opinion has been reinforced over years. The regular season matters in that league, and tends to have closer games as well which drives public interest.

It's silly to argue that if the NBA loses the ratings battle on Christmas to the NFL it indicates that quality of play doesn't matter. The NFL has been putting out a better product the entire season up to this point, with many more compelling games, whereas one of the biggest storylines surrounding the NBA regular season is how fan interest has fallen off.

The problem for the NBA is, on any given night you have no idea if a teams star player is going to play or not. Honestly, it may be the only sport where the star players sit when they're healthy.

[JNewton]

Being available on free over-the-air TV vs. a paid streaming service? Probably shouldn't be a surprise. If the NFL was on a more widely available platform, I suspect things would be different.

[Snotbubbles]

It's shouldn't be about what the ratings are just for 1 day. Problem with the NBA was that it has been trending downwards for years so this sort of thing slowly diminishes your product as people just stop giving a crap after a while.

Yesterday was a good first step but it needs to happen more often for people to start giving a crap again. All it takes is a bunch of stars load managing the next set of games and we'll be back where we started lol.

Exactly. Last year my son wanted to see Jimmy Butler play. So I bought tickets to the Heat v Sixers. Butler played the game before, and when we got to the arena, to no surprise, Butler is a scratch. Embiid didn't play either (we knew he was out already). I dropped a few hundred dollars on parking, tickets and food and didn't even get to see the star we paid to see play. Had I been at home, I would have changed the channel. That's the NBA experience, and it's why the sport is losing viewership.

[Stan]

The NFL destroys it every other day of the year. Hell, the NBA removed it's Thursday Night games because they were getting destroyed by the NFL lol

[Tor_Raps]

It's shouldn't be about what the ratings are just for 1 day. Problem with the NBA was that it has been trending downwards for years so this sort of thing slowly diminishes your product as people just stop giving a crap after a while.

Yesterday was a good first step but it needs to happen more often for people to start giving a crap again. All it takes is a bunch of stars load managing the next set of games and we'll be back where we started lol.

Exactly. Last year my son wanted to see Jimmy Butler play. So I bought tickets to the Heat v Sixers. Butler played the game before, and when we got to the arena, to no surprise, Butler is a scratch. Embiid didn't play either (we knew he was out already). I dropped a few hundred dollars on parking, tickets and food and didn't even get to see the star we paid to see play. Had I been at home, I would have changed the channel. That's the NBA experience, and it's why the sport is losing viewership.

This is the experience many people have had, which is why many folks have started to give no little crap about the NBA. I refuse to buy nba tickets unless there's some special occasion behind it. I just don't trust the NBA stars to show up and I'll be damned if I give them my money during this soft ass era lol.

[bstein14]

NFL being on Netflix only is likely going to hurt its numbers the NBA was on like 4 stations.

[CIN-C-STAR]

Based on a small sample size of Tweets?
Lol
People need to stop confusing Twitter w reality man.

The takeaway for me was that if the NBA wants more competitive games they should put marquee games on ABC in front of a national audience again.
Have a prime time spot like twice a week where you get to watch guys you may not normally see as much. Players used to get up for nationally broadcast games.
That would be better than the stupid Cup thing, which is kind of like that but if we’re being honest people only care about the semis and the finals — and even the finals is a major letdown because the game literally doesn’t count for anything.

[Homer38]

The product in the NFL is awful at time too with all the thursday night game,bad officials,etc...one of the big edge the nfl have is the nfl have only 1 game per week so every game is important...The load management in the nba is also a killer

[zimpy27]

Maybe NFL does better than NBA in the USA but the NBA is absolutely destroying NFL internationally.

NBA also destroys with the younger generation and it shows through commentary on social media platforms.