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

[Stick Up Kid]

Stephen A Smith, First Take, Inside the NBA were the worst things to happen to the NBA

 

[threattonature]

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

That's because they had the history to play off of. Look at the last 30 years of teams that dominated. The Bulls had no previous history of success. Neither did the Spurs so they had no old rivalries to play off of. The Lakers had rotating opponents in all their finals except when they played the Celtics for the two years at which point they leaned heavily into the old rivalry. Then Lebron's Heat/Cavs also had no long lasting rivals to play off of and neither did the Warriors once they started their runs. And since the Warriors it's been rotating teams at the top.

That's another benefit the NFL has, the violence. Part of the hatred between teams is fueled by violence and fights and true hatred being developed between the players which then spills over into the fans hating the other team. There's a reason that as the NBA increasingly legislated violence out of the game, the hatred between teams and rivalries lessened. The fights and hard fouls took shyt to the next level. Nobody is trying to lose hundreds of thousands and for some into the millions with a long suspension from too hard of a foul or throwing a punch.

 

[thenatural]

As NBC returns and Prime Video boosts the NBA’s streaming portfolio, Commissioner Adam Silver wants a more celebratory tone from the league’s broadcast partners.

Aka stop shytting on the league you paid a significant fee for broadcast rights. That's the easiest part for the NBA. Tell ESPN to rein in their chatterboxes. Active players and debate show pros shouldn't be arguing about nepotism or eras. Paul George, MPJ, Trae Young, and whoever else is receiving a check from a team shouldn't be allowed near a podcast studio.

Even if it's not good, make them believe it is. Took the MLB decades to improve the game but Baseball Tonight treated every drudging 4 hour 3-1 game like it had meaning. That's what the other leagues have done too.

The harder part is internal issues. Making the style of play more palatable to the audience without gimmicks. People have a short attention span and a bunch of foul baiting and threes aren't helping. It'll take time but it can be done. They certainly aren't hurting for talent.

 

[NYC Rebel]

That's because they had the history to play off of. Look at the last 30 years of teams that dominated. The Bulls had no previous history of success. Neither did the Spurs so they had no old rivalries to play off of. The Lakers had rotating opponents in all their finals except when they played the Celtics for the two years at which point they leaned heavily into the old rivalry. Then Lebron's Heat/Cavs also had no long lasting rivals to play off of and neither did the Warriors once they started their runs. And since the Warriors it's been rotating teams at the top.

That's another benefit the NFL has, the violence. Part of the hatred between teams is fueled by violence and fights and true hatred being developed between the players which then spills over into the fans hating the other team. There's a reason that as the NBA increasingly legislated violence out of the game, the hatred between teams and rivalries lessened. The fights and hard fouls took shyt to the next level. Nobody is trying to lose hundreds of thousands and for some into the millions with a long suspension from too hard of a foul or throwing a punch.

Magic and Bird was the greatest gift ever given to a league. The history...the Black and white folk dynamic.

I'm very protective of the NBA as I want to see it succeed. I just hate how hated it is because how prominently Black it is. MJ and the Magic/Bird gave it a reprieve but Bron, social media take downs (I will never forget Tony Kornheiser on MNF talking about Melo's fight in the Garden vs the Knicks reflected a decaying society ), its hard to see how the NBA gets out of it.

 

[FTBS]

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

I dont get the competition angle anyway. They been coexisting for 80 years. NBA has had its ups and downs in that time purely based on what is going on with them. Its never had anything to do with the NFL. Its like WWE "competing" with cartoon network or some shyt. Yall have some overlap for sure but you are not doing the same thing and there is more than enough room for both.

 

[NYC Rebel]

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".

This isn't about competing with the NFL. It's about following a format that can help the league along the same lines the that it's made the NFL succeed.

 

[Goat poster]

The fact that SGA had the year he had and NOBODY CARES says it all.

He had a year on par with Jordan or Kobe from the guard position.

Not ONE SGA STAN ON THIS SITE

The NBA has to figure something out.

It's gonna get worse once Lebron, Steph, KD retire...

Nobody cares about these new nikkas but y'all can't keep talking about Bron, Kobe, and MJ FOREVER

NBA Stuck

 

[In The Zone '98]

The fact that SGA had the year he had and NOBODY CARES says it all.

He had a year on par with Jordan or Kobe from the guard position.

Not ONE SGA STAN ON THIS SITE

The NBA has to figure something out.

NBA lore is about climbing the mountain multiple times

 

[SchoolboyC]

The fact that SGA had the year he had and NOBODY CARES says it all.

He had a year on par with Jordan or Kobe from the guard position.

Not ONE SGA STAN ON THIS SITE

The NBA has to figure something out.

It's gonna get worse once Lebron, Steph, KD retire...

Nobody cares about these new nikkas but y'all can't keep talking about Bron, Kobe, and MJ FOREVER

NBA Stuck

To be fair the average age of this site is like 38, I don't expect a whole lot of stans for new players

SGA definitely has stans if you look on NBA Twitter and Reddit tho, obv not to the level of a MJ or Kobe

 

[Sk3ptical]

It helped the players, not the league. And for you guys to now say that the league should continue game is what’s important here I can go to Jamaica and see an entire family from grandparents to great grandchild wearing all Steelers gear. Watching generations, handing down their fandom. that is impossible for the NBA to produce at this juncture minus Laker, Celtic, Knicks, and Philadelphia fans. The return customer is the most important customer in all business. When focus solely on players happens and not the game itself, customers don’t return when they retire.

The nba is way bigger than the nfl worldwide tho.

 

[AlbertPullhoez]

The fact that SGA had the year he had and NOBODY CARES says it all.

He had a year on par with Jordan or Kobe from the guard position.

Not ONE SGA STAN ON THIS SITE

The NBA has to figure something out.

It's gonna get worse once Lebron, Steph, KD retire...

Nobody cares about these new nikkas but y'all can't keep talking about Bron, Kobe, and MJ FOREVER

NBA Stuck

NBA got Wemby for the next 15 plus years. He's their face

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

The fact that SGA had the year he had and NOBODY CARES says it all.

He had a year on par with Jordan or Kobe from the guard position.

Not ONE SGA STAN ON THIS SITE

The NBA has to figure something out.

It's gonna get worse once Lebron, Steph, KD retire...

Nobody cares about these new nikkas but y'all can't keep talking about Bron, Kobe, and MJ FOREVER

NBA Stuck

SGA is a Canadian and America is not going to get behind someone who will compete against them in Olympics. My theory is the Kendrick/Drake spilled over into Americans not embracing Canadians.

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

The nba is way bigger than the nfl worldwide tho.

People say this and the NFL is still more valuable than the NBA, MLB, and MLS. Plus, flag football is the fastest growing sport in the world and it is a derivative from the NFL's investments in growing the sport internationally.

Globally, the most valuable sports team is the Dallas Cowboys. Go figure.

Citation for most valuable teams internationally

 

[SchoolboyC]

NBA lore is about climbing the mountain multiple times

Also SGA was an unexpected star - wasn't a big name coming out of college, didn't really blossom into a legitimate star until 5 or so years into his career and is playing for a small market team that the national media doesn't really like to gravitate to. Also even though he's an obvious superstar playing at an extremely high level there's nothing necessarily generational or transcendent about his game like a Steph

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

NBA got Wemby for the next 15 plus years. He's their face

I guess but I don't think he is moving the needle.