The NBA has a ratings problem

[oneye]

I remember when we talked about this last year some shook it off, but the NBAs rating problem has continued to start this season off in a big way. It’s why the NBAs looking at the tournaments and remedies to get them back up, and engage more interest from fans.

The NBA is talked about 10X more than any other league by sports media. They cover all the negatives of NFL ratings but not a peep now that the NBAs ratings are plummeting. The NFLs ratings have seen a resurgence and are up.

Several things contribute to it, but I’ll say as a pretty big NBA fan these are the things that annoy me about the league.

The drama got old fast. The media likes to think it’s so fun to have all these rumors, tampering, etc. going on in the league. It’s really not. Not for a large majority of your fanbases. All 25 of your teams fanbases are doing is waiting for the day they lose there star. That creates a feeling of “what’s the point” to everyone outside the luxury markets in your league. It makes 25 of your 30 teams feel like hopeless development spots that are just a pit stop along the way.

The secret to a robust league isn’t difficult. Make all your fanbases/teams have a feeling that they can actually compete for and get to the mountaintop at some point, and aren’t just pit stops that are going to lose their guys over and over with no real chance to get there.

The NBA has done a bad job of only engaging/propping up a very small portion of its league.

Whats funny is the silence on it after the NFL got beat up so badly because these rating drops are pretty significant and an issue.

https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/th...ings-are-off-to-such-a-bad-start-01dszs3mxmzn

 

[infection]

The NBA can learn a lot from McDonald’s. For years McDonald’s has received a bad rap. They’ve spent a couple decades trying to cater to a demographic who criticizes them but will absolutely never consume their food. They try to go healthy. They remove animal product from fries. Etc., etc. McDonald’s needs to own the fact that they serve unhealthy, ****** food, and that’s why people go there. If you cater to the boo birds, you’ll just alienate those who are consuming your product.

tl;dr don’t try to drum up interest with tournaments.

 

[MeloTheJazzKiller]

First off, except for NFL, ALL ratings are down for all sports. Ratings? Forget ratings, you should see attendance at NASCAR races.

This isn't your grandfather's world anymore. TV ratings are not the be all and end all. TV ratings are not the measure of success anymore. All the various platforms and tweets and Instagram hits and PlayStation games (hell, even being married to a Kardashian) are what matters now (and the NBA scores big in all those). If you are around young folks, teens, you'll see that basketball is the sport that is big on all things social media that young people seem to care about.

Football gets a huge following because it extremely fan friendly to gambling. Once a week, fantasy teams...perfect for gambling. Don't kid yourself, gambling is a key element to football's success and it really is that which draws many viewers.

NBA has the household superstar faces and names. It has drama surrounding those names. It has a high profile on all social media platforms. The NBA is not in anyway in trouble. TV ratings ain't what they used to be. Other ways to measure interest and following.

 

[oneye]

First off, except for NFL, ALL ratings are down for all sports. Ratings? Forget ratings, you should see attendance at NASCAR races.

This isn't your grandfather's world anymore. TV ratings are not the be all and end all. TV ratings are not the measure of success anymore. All the various platforms and tweets and Instagram hits and PlayStation games (hell, even being married to a Kardashian) are what matters now (and the NBA scores big in all those). If you are around young folks, teens, you'll see that basketball is the sport that is big on all things social media that young people seem to care about.

Football gets a huge following because it extremely fan friendly to gambling. Once a week, fantasy teams...perfect for gambling. Don't kid yourself, gambling is a key element to football's success and it really is that which draws many viewers.

NBA has the household superstar faces and names. It has drama surrounding those names. It has a high profile on all social media platforms. The NBA is not in anyway in trouble. TV ratings ain't what they used to be. Other ways to measure interest and following.

You are 1000% wrong. Doesn’t surprise me. The NBAs biggest revenue share is determined by TV ratings. The reason there’s so much NBA money is because of the last TV deal when rating looked to be on a big trajectory upwards. If it’s not addressed by the time this TV deal runs out (2023 or 2024 I believe) there will be huge revenue losses because advertisers and media companies won’t pay the same giant bill for plummeting ratings. If you believe TV ratings are not still king well.....you can be completely discounted on all your opinions here lol.

There are new forms of revenue but the current TV deal based off ratings...makes up the lions share of revenue.

If the NBA doesn’t care about the biggest share of its revenue taking a hit then sure they’ve got nothing to worry about(ratings are down significantly)....trust me...it’s an issue and they know it. It’s why they’re grasping at straws right now looking at tournament ideas and shortening seasons,etc. they know it doesn’t look good.

 

[MeloTheJazzKiller]

You are 1000% wrong. Doesn’t surprise me. The NBAs biggest revenue share is determined by TV ratings. The reason there’s so much NBA money is because of the last TV deal when rating looked to be on a big trajectory upwards.......

Wow, I have never read such a post that was wrong every step of the way. I swear, you couldn't go two words without being wrong. Everything you wrote was wrong.

Uhh, I guess you were on Mars this past October so I'll clue you in on some news. See there was this big to do over something going on in China about the NBA. Not going to discuss what it was about, rather I am going to school you that, see, the NBA is big in this teeny tiny land called China. Some say they have a hundred people that live there. (You are probably one of those that say that.) Others say they have over ONE BILLION that live there.

Point is (once again) TV ratings are not the measure of success anymore. Advertisers? You really think NBA is sweating over losing a few commercials from that My-Pillow guy when they have a market that has a billion people at their fingertips?

Kid, NBA ratings and thinking are not your strong suit. Just take my word for it that TV ratings ain't the only thing that the head honchos will be bringing to the table when they discuss new contracts with TV execs. Just curious, are you aware that a sponsor on a jersey or a title sponsor is far more lucrative when one realizes that it reaches a billion people in China? You really think the NBA wants those My-Pillow commercials or a McDonalds sponsorship/ads that can reach into a market of a BILLION PEOPLE?

Think, man. Quit thinking like its 1992 or something.

 

[NAOS]

The NBA can learn a lot from McDonald’s. For years McDonald’s has received a bad rap. They’ve spent a couple decades trying to cater to a demographic who criticizes them but will absolutely never consume their food. They try to go healthy. They remove animal product from fries. Etc., etc. McDonald’s needs to own the fact that they serve unhealthy, ****** food, and that’s why people go there. If you cater to the boo birds, you’ll just alienate those who are consuming your product.

tl;dr don’t try to drum up interest with tournaments.

Follow me on this thought experiment: let’s say IF the winner of the early season tournament advances to the postseason, THEN they are guaranteed one ADDITIONAL round of home court advantage. So, if they would have been seeded 5-8, then they jump to 4 (and thus have HC in round 1). Or, if they are seeded 3-4, then they maintain HC in round one, but flip HC against their round-2 opponent (if necessary). If not, or if seeded 2, then they flip HC against their opponent in the final 4. One final chance to flip HC presents itself in the finals. The team doesn’t get a chance to decide when to activate this reversal of HC, instead it is activated on the first instance.

Am I making sense? If the kinks in this kind of idea were ironed out, it would legitimately increase my interest in the league.

 

[BigRigs33]

The biggest problem the NBA for me is that it tailors everything to the players and not the fans. “Load management”, less back to backs, now they’re talking about less games, guys sitting out 2 months with a bruised thumb, star treatment, etc. I’m a huge Jazz fan, always will be, but the nba as a whole is my least favorite major sport because of the star treatment. But it is what it is, I don’t think that will ever change. As long as Adam Silver lets the players have whatever they want, things will stay the same.


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[NAOS]

The tournament would also provide the pretext for handing out some individual awards (Tournament MVP, etc.), which you know helps drive ratings and traffic on media platforms that drive interest.

There’s something to this idea. But I think they need to make the tournament actually matter to the postseason.

 

[BigRigs33]

The tournament would also provide the pretext for handing out some individual awards (Tournament MVP, etc.), which you know helps drive ratings and traffic on media platforms that drive interest.

There’s something to this idea. But I think they need to make the tournament actually matter to the postseason.

You have a good point. I am not a big fan of the tournament, but if it was tied to the post season I could get behind it.


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[NAOS]

And what if the Tournament MVP and the Defensive Player of the Tournament were guaranteed All-Star spots?

There you have a through line from Tournament, to All Star break, to post season.


...
But they’ll probably **** this up and have no through line anywhere.

 

[framer]

And what if the Tournament MVP and the Defensive Player of the Tournament were guaranteed All-Star spots?

There you have a through line from Tournament, to All Star break, to post season.


...
But they’ll probably **** this up and have no through line anywhere.

I would hope they did this INSTEAD of all the All Star Garbage. NBA All Star Weekend BLOWS.

 

[Keefe]

The Warriors blow. That hurts a lot. Yes they’re one of just 30 markets but I’d guess their ratings are down so much that it hurts the league as a whole.

Imagine if Jordan and Pippen were hurt and not playing. That would’ve killed the league.

This is one of the reasons I’ve not yet seen mentioned.

 

[NAOS]

I would hope they did this INSTEAD of all the All Star Garbage. NBA All Star Weekend BLOWS.

True, but they aren’t scrapping it FOR this. In their eyes something needs to be ADDED to the annual festivities.

 

[MeloTheJazzKiller]

The biggest problem the NBA for me is that it tailors everything to the players and not the fans....

I’m a huge Jazz fan, always will be, but the nba as a whole is my least favorite major sport because of the star treatment.

And you don't feel the NFL has "star treatment" written in the rules book for quarterbacks???

No sports league tailors anything for the fans. $39 just to park your car at Yankee Stadium. $39 just so my car can set on a slab of concrete. My car isn't going to the game, it can't name one guy on the Yankees, but it has to pay $39.

Come on, man, flexed games; Finals games starting after 9 at night; Sunday afternoon baseball games moved to Sunday night games because ESPN wants them; PSLs; have to buy pre-season tickets at full price as part of season tickets...we all could go on forever how the leagues crap all over the fans.

 

[oneye]

Wow, I have never read such a post that was wrong every step of the way. I swear, you couldn't go two words without being wrong. Everything you wrote was wrong.

Uhh, I guess you were on Mars this past October so I'll clue you in on some news. See there was this big to do over something going on in China about the NBA. Not going to discuss what it was about, rather I am going to school you that, see, the NBA is big in this teeny tiny land called China. Some say they have a hundred people that live there. (You are probably one of those that say that.) Others say they have over ONE BILLION that live there.

Point is (once again) TV ratings are not the measure of success anymore. Advertisers? You really think NBA is sweating over losing a few commercials from that My-Pillow guy when they have a market that has a billion people at their fingertips?

Kid, NBA ratings and thinking are not your strong suit. Just take my word for it that TV ratings ain't the only thing that the head honchos will be bringing to the table when they discuss new contracts with TV execs. Just curious, are you aware that a sponsor on a jersey or a title sponsor is far more lucrative when one realizes that it reaches a billion people in China? You really think the NBA wants those My-Pillow commercials or a McDonalds sponsorship/ads that can reach into a market of a BILLION PEOPLE?

Think, man. Quit thinking like its 1992 or something.

Again, you have zero clue what you’re talking about. The tanking ratings aren’t because of China. People right here in the United States are not watching the NBA as much as they have. Many of these rating metrics that are tanking do not include anything but domestic viewership.

Again, you have no clue what you’re talking about TV is the lions share of revenue. This isn’t debatable. When you have less viewers sponsors of all kinds, including those patches on the jerseys aren’t going to pay the same price if less people are watching your team or league. It’s not just about commercials, it’s about sponsors paying less because there is less interest in your league.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/071415/how-nba-makes-money.asp

Read here:
“TV accounts for most of the NBA’s revenue. For the 2016-2017 season, TNT and ESPN re-upped their contracts to an estimated $24 billion in total. Even with a total of 400-odd active players making an average of close to $5 million annually, national TV contracts generate enough revenue to cover salaries and then some. However, those national contracts still leave 1078 regular-season games unaccounted for. Filling in that gap, local TV contracts can gross between $120 million and $150 million annually.”

Stop with your insanity. TV ratings are a huge deal still to this day and you have to be pretty out of touch with reality if you think they aren’t going to impact the NBA’s bottom line in a big way.

 

[MeloTheJazzKiller]

Again, you have zero clue what you’re talking about. The tanking ratings aren’t because of China. …..

Oh, my God, stop it, please. You can not be this dense.

I ain't going through it again. Read my above post. On the other hand, don't bother. You clearly can't get it.

China - A BILLION PEOPLE - is in the NBA's pocket. The NBA can deal with declining domestic ratings because they know the world is out there. No other sports league has the world interested. Other nations watch NBA in big numbers. You can not say that about any other American sports league. A billion Chinese is far more than 300 million Americans. You can't understand that? What would be in your sights if you ran the league?

Look at the numbers. I quickly looked it up.
- 2017 NBA Finals gets about 19 to 20 million viewers in USA.
- 2017 NBA Finals in China attracted nearly 200 million viewers!
200 MILLION! The Super Bowl is the biggest porogram we have and that only gets 100 million. More Chinese watch our basketball Finals than Americans watch our football finals. Then you find out that some instagram type NBA service in China got 2.5 billion views last year....man, the NBA knows it has a gold mine.

 

[oneye]

Oh, my God, stop it, please. You can not be this dense.

I ain't going through it again. Read my above post. On the other hand, don't bother. You clearly can't get it.

China - A BILLION PEOPLE - is in the NBA's pocket. The NBA can deal with declining domestic ratings because they know the world is out there. No other sports league has the world interested. Other nations watch NBA in big numbers. You can not say that about any other American sports league. A billion Chinese is far more than 300 million Americans. You can't understand that? What would be in your sights if you ran the league?

Look at the numbers. I quickly looked it up.
- 2017 NBA Finals gets about 19 to 20 million viewers in USA.
- 2017 NBA Finals in China attracted nearly 200 million viewers!
200 MILLION! The Super Bowl is the biggest porogram we have and that only gets 100 million. More Chinese watch our basketball Finals than Americans watch our football finals. Then you find out that some instagram type NBA service in China got 2.5 billion views last year....man, the NBA knows it has a gold mine.

Read the part where it says plain as day “TV makes up the largest part of the NBAs revenue”.....the ratings matter. To think otherwise is asinine.

The current Chinese television contract is $1.5 billion over 5 years. The current US contract is worth $24.5 billion over 9 years. Stop.

 

[The Thriller]

The NBA’s primary announcers are Mark Jackson, Chris Webber, and Reggie Miller. And they wonder why people are chucking their TVs out their windows?

Also, James Harden sucks.

/thread

 

[oneye]

The NBA’s primary announcers are Mark Jackson, Chris Webber, and Reggie Miller. And they wonder why people are chucking their TVs out their windows?

Also, James Harden sucks.

/thread

Lol, W

 

[MeloTheJazzKiller]

Read the part where it says plain as day “TV makes up the largest part of the NBAs revenue”.....the ratings matter..

As I said, keep thinking like it's 1992 and you will go broke.

It's 2019, my calendar-less friend, things are very different in this age of something called computer technology. Streams, media platforms, social media...it ain't ABC Wide World Of Sports anymore. You should get out more.