Warriors beat writer Danny Emerman shares his thoughts on the NBA and beyond…
The bell has already rung on the first round of NBA television ratings handwringing.
After increasing its opening night viewership by 6% from last year, the first week of the NBA saw massive declines in ratings. ESPN’s Wednesday doubleheader drew an average of 1.6 million viewers, down 42% from the network’s first games last year. TNT’s signature Thursday night game between the Spurs and Mavericks declined 29% in ratings compared to last year’s window.
And last Friday, more people watched Boston College football versus Louisville on ESPN2 than Pacers-Knicks on the worldwide leader.
It makes sense that studio executives would be at least mildly concerned by declining viewership. But fans of the league, notably, don’t work for Disney, Turner, NBC or Amazon. I’m not so sure why anyone else cares.
The NBA is doing just fine. The checks on their 11-year, $76 billion (with a B) media rights deal are going to cash through 2036 regardless of the ratings.
On a macro level, Nielsen ratings are decreasing across the board in the cord-cutting and social media era. Still, the NBA is a television product, and it remains one of the most valuable ones. In 2023, 56 of the 100 most-watched programs were sports; 45 of those were NFL games, followed in second place by six NBA Finals games.
As long as there’s a market for live programming, the NBA is in prime position. Even if ratings continue to decline, revenue will skyrocket. Supply and demand.
As to why ratings are down, there could be a number of factors. In years past, pundits blamed athletes taking political stances (that’s not the case here, which is evidence it likely never was). Going against a World Series between MLB’s two signature franchises in the Dodgers and Yankees probably cut into the Association’s market share. Some stars, like Joel Embiid and Kawhi Leonard, were absent from primetime matchups.
The most common theory is that the game is becoming too homogenous, with every team taking too many 3-pointers. Ten teams are launching at least 40 per game, up from two last season. Even Steve Kerr said it’s “a concern” from the league’s perspective.
The NBA could change all sorts of things to appeal to fans. They could make dunks count for three points. They could move back the 3-point line or end the arc before the corners. They could get wonky with power plays and legalized fighting — Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla’s ideas, not mine.
I’m just not sure the game is broken. Teams get their 3-pointers in a variety of ways; the Warriors move the ball and run constant, unpredictable action to spring shooters. The Celtics and Suns rely more on difficult shot-making from their stars. Beyond 3s, flipping through League Pass is a tour of different styles, from Nikola Jokic in Denver to Oklahoma City’s five-out attack.
Are people really yearning for the early 2000s, where isolation-heavy, inefficient basketball ruled …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
