Listen…the NBA has had to tackle the cac viewer racism since the 70s. Some of the shyt I read said by racists about the league back then
I don’t think people give enough credit to have the stars aligned when Magic and Bird came to play for the Lakers and Celtics. That is still the most mystical and perfect sports alignment we have seen by league in the past 50 years. Black versus white on top of a historic rivalry going back 60 years. East Coast versus West Coast. That shyt was so overwhelmingly good he broke free of the racism the NBA head first. NO LEAGUE has been hurt by racism more than the NBA. I’ve been saying that before all this “woke,” Bron, or any of this shyt came into play. When the league broke that cac ceiling, I feel their model went wrong.
The problem with releasing these numbers is that there's never any context given.
Numbers are up or down. Why?
There are potentially so many factors involved.
Was it the teams?
Was it the announcers?
The production?
The channel?
The promotion?
Were there other issues or programs driving viewership elsewhere (like a major political or social event or other popular show being on at the same time?)
Was it the scheduling? This year's NBA Finals had zero games on Friday nights.
It could be a combination of several things.
But most people just assume it's the teams involved and I think that's too simple an answer.
The Super Bowl is routinely the most (or one of the most) watched events every year. It doesn't matter who is playing. Even if the ratings are up or down in a given year, it still blows everything else out of the water. So that should tell people how complex the answers typically are.
Now as an aside, think about the subtext here. If people really believe that ratings are predominantly driven by the teams involved, and if the league believes the same, then it stands to reason there would be a concerted effort by the league to "massage" the playoffs to reach a desired matchup. I don't want to flat out state that they league is engineering or fixing matches but if their goal is centered around ratings, wouldn't they have to? And so if you begin with that premise, knowing the logical conclusion, why the fukk would you ever watch the games to begin with? You'd just be admitting to watching a basketball version of the WWE. But nobody ever wants to actually make that argument. Even more so if the team they root for actually wins. Because at that point they want the excuse to gloat and argue about merit. Granted, this is well beyond the scope of the thread...but it's where you end up if you go down this rabbit hole of ratings and driving viewership and therefore revenues.
It should also be said that people have been complaining about ratings for years, and yet the NBA and their players make more money now than they ever have before. So if fewer people are watching, it's apparently not affecting the bottom line much, if at all.
That's an easy answer and even you know that. Sports are/was supposed to be immune from cord cutting, which is why they're still getting the big deals compared to other outlets and shows. Even with those declining ratings, they're still getting higher ratings than average shows for the most part on "some" nights.
It's the same exact reason that WWE is still getting sponsorship revenue even with their decline in ratings.
This isn’t true, the NFL is simply set up to succeed as they 1) only have one game per week, mainly on the weekend 2) put teams before players 3) have a clear pecking order of who is in charge - white owners and mainly white coaches who lord over black men - thus keeping middle America and the south engaged
let any of those elements start changing, teams playing 2-3 games/week and games on everyday, more player empowerment or letting star players beyond the QB get shine and their ratings would start dropping
Those are fair enough points. But I’m moreso saying that adopting an element or two from the other two successful sports in the world (American football and international football) it might help the NBA reinvent itself beyond its old strategies.
Things like more focus on teams/rivalry and as much consistent exposure as possible on all platforms are nice ways to help strengthen and expand the sport.
Who cares about ratings? NBA players make great money, protect their bodies, have leverage in the front office and can easily get jobs after playing. But let’s focus on ratings.
It matters though because it’s potentially less leverage that they have to ask for their maximum asking price as you know the league wants every dollar it can get. It’s the exact reason why Silver is trying to do the mid season tournament as the rest management is fukking with ratings and networks are complaining especially with how much they’re paying for the rights.
Listen…the NBA has had to tackle the cac viewer racism since the 70s. Some of the shyt I read said about the league back then
I don’t think people give enough credit to have the stars aligned when Magic and Bird came to play for the Lakers and Celtics. That is still the most mystical and perfect sports alignment we have seen by league in the past 50 years. Black versus white on top of a historic rivalry going back 60 years. East Coast versus West Coast. That shyt was so overwhelmingly good he broke free of the racism the NBA head feast. NO LEAGUE has been hurt by racism more than the NBA. I’ve been saying that before all this “woke,” Bron, or any of this shyt came into play. When the league broke that cac ceiling, I feel their model went wrong.
i dont know how they calculate the numbers any more; i do know that cacs talk beisbol more than basketball and say dumb shyt like "the league is rigged".
it sounds like bullshyt because if a network says the numbers dropped, how does the league prove them wrong? If Disney says the numbers are ahhz, how do they track that?
The market was fukked the moment Balmer overpaid for the Clips and caused a trickle effect. No one’s purchasing a team with shytty attendance or a bad local deal unless they really want to get in the owners club. TV viewership drives TV deals but in this market, live sporting events are a premium so valuations are driven up. idk the fix but maybe go regional. No one cares about a Tues. nite game of Heat/Magic unless you’re from that locale and a die hard.
Half of America doesn’t watch the NBA because they consider it the “woke” league. Go on any sports message board besides this one & they proudly say they boycott the nba because of “sjw” & “wokeness”. Doesn’t have shyt to do with the 3 point line or Jordan/LeBron.
Would be impossible since most folks who are being tracked volunteer and no data set has 100% participation. But the sample set is legit and you divulge from it what you will. There tons of casuals who watch the NFL. Not hurting the product one bit. It’s event watching. No one’s throwing parties and shyt around a Dubs/Leprechaun finals.
Unfortunately, Nba needs transcendent, safe and charismatic black american stars and all american, good ol boy type white american players to get ratings on par with nfl. Not foreign whites like Doncic or Dirk nowitzki or steve nash. But American born cacs that middle america/very casual white nba fans relate to.
Magic and MJ were transcendent. Bird was from Indiana, white, american and a superstar. Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale were white, fringe stars/good supporting cast players
Bron was transcendent until the decision. Kobe was viewed as safe until that cave bytch lied on him in colorado. Shaq was a superstar, known by everyome and loved by everyone. Curry is a superstar, viewed as safe, lightskinned, transcendent and marketable to all.
I don't care if the ratings get to 2.0 I'm going to always watch it because I love basketball not the narratives around a team or player. Viewership has went down for any genre of televison since 1988 so The NBA finals is not a exception. Also there's a certain group of people that don't like the NBA because of the money the players of today are making, so they say it's too woke to cover up the fact they are jealous of black athletes making this type of money.
I want to see folks watching more games. Do you have to be a fool to not think this is it going to hurt the players eventually when it comes to negotiations in the future
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