NBA Ratings Drastically Down This Year, Every Other Sports League Ratings Is Up
- Thread starter Goldie
- Start date
If the NBA were a player and its media partners were its coaches, the message to the league would be simple: You are underperforming after signing your big new contract.
A month into the season, the NBA’s ratings are down 28% on ESPN through Nov. 21. Meanwhile, the ratings for its games on TNT are flat at 1.8 million viewers per game, while ESPN is slightly behind at 1.77 million viewers per game. This comes after every major studio fell over itself vying for the rights to air NBA games this year, resulting in a $76 billion total deal.
What’s behind the league’s popularity decline? While it is tough blame any one factor, analysts say the NBA has too many regular-season games and lacks continuity, with players changing teams more frequently and teams changing uniform designs more often, which has confused and turned off some fans. The NBA’s social justice focus, starting with Black Lives Matter, made the league a target for conservative pundits and turned off right-leaning viewers. And the league and its players have shown a penchant for not valuing the regular season enough — coaches are still resting star players for long stretches to save them for the playoffs — which has further hurt fan engagement.
The ratings drop has been conspicuous — and potentially worrying — considering the NBA signed its 11-year, $76 billion TV deal this past summer. The new deal, which nearly triples the annual revenue the league brings in from its current contract, will see the league remain on Disney-owned ABC and ESPN, plus bring games to Amazon’s Prime Video and NBCUniversal, starting next year.
Wall Street analysts, however, said it’s too early to panic.
“All of these media partners have entered into long-term deals with the NBA, and I’d say they’re all very excited about the path ahead and the trajectory of the league,” MoffettNathanson senior analyst Robert Fishman told TheWrap. “And so any sort of short term ratings blip is really not what they’re focused on.”
Still, the networks bet big on basketball, and the ratings dip means the cost to acquire viewers is going up. The increasing premium placed on sports rights and live entertainment helped spur a bidding war for the NBA’s TV packages. At the same time, the rise of streaming added new deep-pocketed bidders to the market — ultimately leading to Amazon securing its NBA package for $1.8 billion per year.
sports.yahoo.com
A month into the season, the NBA’s ratings are down 28% on ESPN through Nov. 21. Meanwhile, the ratings for its games on TNT are flat at 1.8 million viewers per game, while ESPN is slightly behind at 1.77 million viewers per game. This comes after every major studio fell over itself vying for the rights to air NBA games this year, resulting in a $76 billion total deal.
What’s behind the league’s popularity decline? While it is tough blame any one factor, analysts say the NBA has too many regular-season games and lacks continuity, with players changing teams more frequently and teams changing uniform designs more often, which has confused and turned off some fans. The NBA’s social justice focus, starting with Black Lives Matter, made the league a target for conservative pundits and turned off right-leaning viewers. And the league and its players have shown a penchant for not valuing the regular season enough — coaches are still resting star players for long stretches to save them for the playoffs — which has further hurt fan engagement.
The ratings drop has been conspicuous — and potentially worrying — considering the NBA signed its 11-year, $76 billion TV deal this past summer. The new deal, which nearly triples the annual revenue the league brings in from its current contract, will see the league remain on Disney-owned ABC and ESPN, plus bring games to Amazon’s Prime Video and NBCUniversal, starting next year.
Wall Street analysts, however, said it’s too early to panic.
“All of these media partners have entered into long-term deals with the NBA, and I’d say they’re all very excited about the path ahead and the trajectory of the league,” MoffettNathanson senior analyst Robert Fishman told TheWrap. “And so any sort of short term ratings blip is really not what they’re focused on.”
Still, the networks bet big on basketball, and the ratings dip means the cost to acquire viewers is going up. The increasing premium placed on sports rights and live entertainment helped spur a bidding war for the NBA’s TV packages. At the same time, the rise of streaming added new deep-pocketed bidders to the market — ultimately leading to Amazon securing its NBA package for $1.8 billion per year.
Why the NBA’s Ratings Are Down Big — and Why Its New Media Partners Should Care
“There's just too much awareness that an individual game really doesn't matter,” one league analyst tells TheWrap The post Why the NBA’s Ratings Are Down Big — and Why Its New Media Partners Should Care appeared first on TheWrap.
sports.yahoo.com
ThaManMythLegnd
Active Member
The old guard of players is gone. The 3pt era has ruined the NBA, and ruined so many records. Lebron is also not very likeable, point blank. I used to follow the NBA daily, but I really don't haven't watched it much at all in years. The artistry of the game which was the main draw of the NBA is gone and replaced with 40 threes.
The biggest stars right now play on the west, and they’re also the oldest in the league. You have to stay up late to watch them. It’s football season too…
konceptjones
The one between three and three.
This era of the game sucks ass. It was made entirely too soft. Ain't nobody trying to watch these niggas spend two hours shootin' threes. Highlight reels used to elicit reactions from cats like "daaaayum, you see that shit?!" and now it's like "oh, another three eh? I wonder what's on Hallmark right now".
Elzo69Renaissance
Niggas online ratting then calling it content
Ain’t nobody trying to watch dudes shoot threes and free throws all night
Elzo69Renaissance
Niggas online ratting then calling it content
But they better pray that Cooper Flagg pans out it’s the only way lol
Bender Rodriguez
Kiss my shiny metal ass
aint nobody tryint to watch a 3 point contest....shit didnt somebody just post a pic of boston vs memphis game, where Memphis shot 52 3 points tries.......
FIFTY TWO 3 POINT TRIES....then this niggas cry for everything and travel all the fucking time
GET THIS BS OUTTA HERE
FIFTY TWO 3 POINT TRIES....then this niggas cry for everything and travel all the fucking time
GET THIS BS OUTTA HERE
Loneshot
Active Member
I don't think it has as much to do with threes or the style of the game at all. Access is an issue. They are talking about ratings, which is a cable/tv scale for measuring viewership. No one i know watches games on cable or TV for the most part. It's all streams and highlights.
I have watched more games since they have been on Prime and Max, though that applies to anything that depends on cable. I can't tell you the last time I've seen a non PPV/PLE wrestling show because they don't live stream them.
Football is still America's game so no one cares about basketball while the NFL season is ongoing. Except me, basketball is the only major sport i care about.
I have watched more games since they have been on Prime and Max, though that applies to anything that depends on cable. I can't tell you the last time I've seen a non PPV/PLE wrestling show because they don't live stream them.
Football is still America's game so no one cares about basketball while the NFL season is ongoing. Except me, basketball is the only major sport i care about.
TheNightKing
J.A.P.A.N.
Too many players are friends now. There’s no real rivalries and no more competitive edge. The few players that do have that fire get tech’d to oblivion.
No more positions, so everybody plays the exact same way.
No more personalities. Everybody too cool. media got them gassed from high school so they come in with egos and entitlement. They just there for the check.
No team cares about the regular season so fans don’t either.
No more positions, so everybody plays the exact same way.
No more personalities. Everybody too cool. media got them gassed from high school so they come in with egos and entitlement. They just there for the check.
No team cares about the regular season so fans don’t either.
konceptjones
The one between three and three.
You talmbout this shit I posted in another thread.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBODY wanna watch a buncha niggas try to make 3's all night. Shits is boring as fuck!!! They play like they scared to drive to the hole now!
Allah_U_Akbar
New Member
Used to be a huge fan!
NBA in the 90’s and early 2000’s was the best show on earth!
Point blank, period!
I don’t care about it these days.
grYmes
The price of a brick goin up…
I haven’t been invested in watching regular season NBA basketball since around a decade ago. It’s been a slow decline to the point where I only pay attention come playoff time and usually it isn’t until the second round. Adding bullshit that doesn’t matter like the NBA Cup and the play-in doesn’t help either. All Star weekend is a joke. The league feels like it’s fucked once LeBron and Steph retire unless some dudes emerge as that new crop of stars that even casuals gravitate towards.
#1hiphopjunki3
Go Spurs Go!!
Could you please explain How is he off the Harden tree?
The Lonious Monk
Celestial Souljah
The shitty state of the NBA isn't all on Lebron, but he's basically the poster child for it.
People are claiming he's a top 10 player even though you can make 20 min vids of him just standing around doing nothing all in the same game.
People are claiming he's a top 10 player even though you can make 20 min vids of him just standing around doing nothing all in the same game.