Viewership is down for the NBA, ESPN sports related programming, and NFL Hard Knocks

[Serious]

Can be summed up pretty easily.

1: After the first couple of games, people realized that (despite there being some good games) these were still end of regular season games. The most compelling basketball was following the teams competing for the 8/9 seed, and all four were teams that a lot of people that aren't really into the NBA don't really follow. Also, the scheduling was crazy. There were days that games were on at like 10/11 AM out here on the west.

2: It's been said a bunch of times in here, but networks don't get concerned until key demos start underperforming. They're still doing alright there.

3: Hard Knocks was set up to fail. There wasn't much promo, they're covering two teams without much buzz, and without preseason games, coverage of training camp is more tedious than usual. And having watched the first episode, shyt is gonna be trash this year. They had little to nothing to work with for an hour long show.

4: News is going to be crushing everything in just straight up viewers until January, at minimum. Election years are normally great for cable news networks, and this election will be the title holder for fukkery for the forseeable future. On top of that, the pandemic is still feeding them tons of viewers.

Realistically speaking, none of these networks should be sweating this all that much, assuming those in positions to be concerned have been paying attention.

I think they're forgetting a huge growing metric as well. A lot people are cutting cable. Those who watch sports, are probably bootlegging it.

 

[DJ Paul's Arm]

I think the bolded is an exaggeration. Sports is a distraction... one that people usually welcome. The issue(s) imo are:

• Most of these games didn't matter. Ratings will pick up once playoffs start
• Scheduling. I had no idea when tf most of these games were on. Even when I found out, I usually had something better to do.
• People have canceled cable by and large... I'd imagine tv watching habits in general have changed.Sports was the last bastion of scheduled/live TV and people may have stopped caring. The playoffs will be the true test

I don't think the social stances or the "stress of the pandemic" are as big as a deal.

With everybody and they mama pretty much staying home in these times, you would think ratings would be at all time highs.

 

[Serious]

Exactly.

Sports is about entertainment and theater. Bubble basketball is neither entertaining nor compelling theater.

This is also true, a lot of people watch the NBA to hate on LBJ. It's amazing the lengths people go to try to shyt on dude too.

 

[Mr Hate Coffee]

Ive been actually playing sports, since the pandemic started. Now that I know I could go out and play some 1 V 1.... I aint really trying to sit inside and watch hoops

shyt is boring

This is definitely an outlier take. I hooped 3x a week pre-covid. Aint nobody tryna play basketball in the midst of this disease. Most of bball crew has switched to golf. lol

 

[Mr Hate Coffee]

With everybody and they mama pretty much staying home in these times, you would think ratings would be at all time highs.

All of my points speak to that. I just disagreed with your assessment that people are too stressed from the pandemic to watch tv. That's not true. They're just not watching the NBA... right now. We'll see how the playoffs look.

 

[Mr Hate Coffee]

It’s that not

we don’t even know if there will be a season, so who wants to watch practice shyt

THIS!

fukk I look like watching Hard Knocks rn. Also, the same goes for fantasy football. My homie tryna get shyt setup and we're all like "What's the point?"

 

[Justise M]

I've never met a chargers fan. They were expecting them to do numbers putting that trash team on?

 

[MostReal]

The NBA miss Steph Curry and the Warriors

 

[Peter Popoff]

It's only cause cable is so expensive. Anything broadcasted on cable will automatically lose viewership.

 

[hashmander]

conservatives who would be inclined to watch are the ones who make up the biggest drop. i have no problem with players kneeling, speaking out, black lives matter message all over the court and on player's jerseys, but those who do have a problem with it are choosing not to watch.

 

[SPACE IS FAKE]

But viewerships up for MLB

 

[pete clemenza]

Exactly.

Sports is about entertainment and theater. Bubble basketball is neither entertaining nor compelling theater.

You sound MAGA

 

[Trav]

With everybody and they mama pretty much staying home in these times, you would think ratings would be at all time highs.

Thats the thing tho. A lot of mf's ain't staying at home, lol. A good deal of people have decided since they're over the pandemic, that the pandemic is over. Bars/Restaurants is open in some capacity whether outdoors or spaced out. Mf's is having house parties/gatherings every other weekend. People are saying fukk it and traveling, taking advantage of low plane ticket prices. Anything to get out the house.

 

[Swagnificent]

conservatives who would be inclined to watch are the ones who make up the biggest drop. i have no problem with players kneeling, speaking out, black lives matter message all over the court and on player's jerseys, but those who do have a problem with it are choosing not to watch.

The NFL about to start and I bet they get massive ratings despite the kneeling.

The protests have nothing to do with this. NBA ratings were shytty even before the shutdown. People thought after the shut down people who weren't watching before would suddenly start watching again. Obviously that theory has turned out to be false.

This is about the NBA being a shytty product. It ain't about protests or BLM.

 

[Swagnificent]

You sound MAGA

Explain that? How is saying the NBA has been trash since 2014 MAGA?

I been saying this for years. This ain't something I started saying this year. People are just catching on now and have stopped watching what is clearly a trash product.