The NBA’s new media strategy: Build on what the NFL does right - Article

[The God Poster]

The NFL product is just as trash imo and they functioning well. It’s going to take YEARS to see a return on this though. Folks today are simply too conditioned

None of this really matters. The casual fans & media don’t care about the product just the drama.

Also add in the NFL has a cult like base where they can do no wrong. Households have the most garbage games on just for background. No league is getting to that level

 

[NYC Rebel]

None of this really matters. The casual fans & media don’t care about the product just the drama.

Also add in the NFL has a cult like base where they can do no wrong. Households have the most garbage games on just for background. No league is getting to that level

The NFL product is ass. The NBA needs develop that same cult like following around its teams.

 

[NYC Rebel]

i wasn't endorsing the model. I think this symbiosis was more driven by happenstance than proactive vision. at least initially... they knowingly leaned into it at one point

there is a challenge to selling a black league (asthetic and identity wise) to a white consumer base. Black people , en masse, have always been sold to the white public through a dehumanized deficit model.

My greatest example is the Mayweather family. They could just as much be sold as a generational example of a familial legacy of study, discipline, and mastery in the science of martial arts . comparable to how bill Bellicheck and the Mannings justifiably are .

But you cant sell black people to the white consumer public in that manner. So we get what we got. The white players are cerebral and and we are "beast mode" and the like.

(As much as the nba is a game of strategy matchups and adjustments, the general public interprets it as mindless physicality as cause of who its associated with. this isnt the case with the nfl... )

This is the conundrum the Nba is facing. Its why the coversge is so atrocious. Again, this isn't an endorsement. and it clearly isnt working lol

Great point. Anti black racism impacts the NBA more than ANY LEAGUE

 

[papa pimp]

Comparing NFL and NBA popularity is comparing apples to oranges. NFL has huge built in advantages. Having the one primary game a week makes it easy to plan social events around it or just to make it a routine to watch. Add in fantasy football and gambling and hell even something as simple as office pools that brings lots of eyes to the sport.

With the NFL it's much much easier to follow what's happening over the course of a season. With the NBA it's really a chore to follow all season long and keep up with all the happenings. Viewing habits have changed, so people are far less willing to devote so much time to watching on a night to night basis due to how much competition there is once streaming hit.

With that said, the other factors that are in the NBA's control is that parity hurts the league. It's the most star driven league. That's always been true despite everybody trying to paint the old days with rose colored glasses saying that in the old days the teams were the draw. Michigan State vs Indiana State was the highest rated college game ever and it damn sure wasn't because of loyal fan bases for those teams. It was to see Bird vs Magic.

By changing the rules to promote more ball movement and deemphasize iso ball it took away what a lot of fans loved about the NBA to push it more globally and it's worked. Everyone talking about the NBA's marketing problems for some reason always ignore that international popularity of the game. American fans want the crazy dunks, the crossovers, and more of the flash. American players were more athletic. We are seeing the end game of making the game more international. Now players have to be more well rounded to get their points. Defense has become so advanced it's rare to see just an iso drive to the basket for a dunk or someone with a nice handle just being able to cross somebody for an easy layup.

Now I do agree that the balance of positive coverage does need to be tilted heavily towards promoting more positivity of the product. That I agree on, but I do still think there is room for an Inside the NBA type show. The bigger problem is all the hot take shows. The NBA should leverage it's relationships to get rid of trying to trash or compare current players and make it a point of emphasis to promote the greatness of what we are seeing and reeducate the fans.

ding ding ding

 

[The God Poster]

The NFL product is ass. The NBA needs develop that same cult like following around its teams.

The racial dynamic & history won’t allow that same cult following. We both know & understand this

 

[IIVI]

NBA right now could use somebody like an Ohtani.

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a record-breaking spectacle without ref help.

Curry came the closest, but now everyone doing what he did. Jokic another one but he’s playing in an era of 3-pointer fatigue.

That’ll help the NBA media strategy the most. It’ll make the task a trillion times easier. Find a player everyone got to watch because they’re shattering seemingly impossible feats.

 

[The War Report]

It’s all about getting fans to be invested in the teams again like they are in football and baseball regardless of who’s on the team. When you talk about the NFL/MLB you’re always talk about the teams first and then the players on those said teams. Division rivalries are a big thing in football and baseball. Basketball needs more of that.

 

[NYC Rebel]

NBA right now could use somebody like an Ohtani.

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a record-breaking spectacle without ref help.

Curry came the closest, but now everyone doing what he did. Jokic another one but he’s playing in an era of 3-pointer fatigue.

That’ll help the NBA media strategy the most. It’ll make the task a trillion times easier. Find a player everyone got to watch because they’re shattering seemingly impossible feats.

That isn’t sustainable

 

[The God Poster]

NBA right now could use somebody like an Ohtani.

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a record-breaking spectacle without ref help.

Curry came the closest, but now everyone doing what he did. Jokic another one but he’s playing in an era of 3-pointer fatigue.

That’ll help the NBA media strategy the most. It’ll make the task a trillion times easier. Find a player everyone got to watch because they’re shattering seemingly impossible feats.

The media will just start comparing him to Mike lol. Fans are def the problem but the bigger issue is the media. Most casual fans are easily swayed. If the NBA media focused more on teams & the on court product the fans will follow.

Silver ain’t got the heart to put the media partners in check tho

 

[Da_Eggman]

@CHICAGO is all about the he said she said fandom though

He a WNBA fan nowadays anyway

That’s a damn shame

 

[SchoolboyC]

NBA right now could use somebody like an Ohtani.

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a record-breaking spectacle without ref help.

Curry came the closest, but now everyone doing what he did. Jokic another one but he’s playing in an era of 3-pointer fatigue.

That’ll help the NBA media strategy the most. It’ll make the task a trillion times easier. Find a player everyone got to watch because they’re shattering seemingly impossible feats.

The problem with this is what happens when the player leaves the league?

Teams are always gonna be there, players won’t

There’s a difference between following the Warriors bc you love the Warriors and following the Warriors bc you love Steph

 

[FTBS]

Comparing NFL and NBA popularity is comparing apples to oranges. NFL has huge built in advantages. Having the one primary game a week makes it easy to plan social events around it or just to make it a routine to watch. Add in fantasy football and gambling and hell even something as simple as office pools that brings lots of eyes to the sport.

With the NFL it's much much easier to follow what's happening over the course of a season. With the NBA it's really a chore to follow all season long and keep up with all the happenings. Viewing habits have changed, so people are far less willing to devote so much time to watching on a night to night basis due to how much competition there is once streaming hit.

With that said, the other factors that are in the NBA's control is that parity hurts the league. It's the most star driven league. That's always been true despite everybody trying to paint the old days with rose colored glasses saying that in the old days the teams were the draw. Michigan State vs Indiana State was the highest rated college game ever and it damn sure wasn't because of loyal fan bases for those teams. It was to see Bird vs Magic.

By changing the rules to promote more ball movement and deemphasize iso ball it took away what a lot of fans loved about the NBA to push it more globally and it's worked. Everyone talking about the NBA's marketing problems for some reason always ignore that international popularity of the game. American fans want the crazy dunks, the crossovers, and more of the flash. American players were more athletic. We are seeing the end game of making the game more international. Now players have to be more well rounded to get their points. Defense has become so advanced it's rare to see just an iso drive to the basket for a dunk or someone with a nice handle just being able to cross somebody for an easy layup.

Now I do agree that the balance of positive coverage does need to be tilted heavily towards promoting more positivity of the product. That I agree on, but I do still think there is room for an Inside the NBA type show. The bigger problem is all the hot take shows. The NBA should leverage it's relationships to get rid of trying to trash or compare current players and make it a point of emphasis to promote the greatness of what we are seeing and reeducate the fans.

American fans want narrative and mano y mano as well. That Magic/Bird game was actually the highest rated basketball game period for a time.

You cannot get NFL level interest and ratings for basketball. Its not happening for many of the reasons you listed. But you can have the discussion of your sport not be all negativity and "back in the day".

 

[SchoolboyC]

There are structural and cultural reasons as to why the NBA will never match the popularity of the NFL in the U.S.

Even in the golden MJ years the NBA wasn’t outdrawing the NFL

But they don’t need to compete with the NFL. Just shift the way you cover the game, from a lens of appreciation & education instead of negativity, hot takes and forced legacy debates

 

[NotAHotep]

The NBA has been a league built on stars since it's inception. That's not changing.

 

[NYC Rebel]

The NBA has been a league built on stars since it's inception. That's not changing.

Not true. The Celtic Laker rivalry initially carried it. Magic and Bird’s paring later in the rivalry was God’s gift to the league.

even in that rivalry, how CBS pitched the game was putting the Celtic and Laker black-and-white footage rivalry first before getting to magic and bird