Well well well, gather around and choose your weapon of attack. Will you grab the stick that says it’s the “woke mob,” ruining the NBA ratings? Or maybe the sword of “style of play,” is a better option. The “stop holding onto older stars,” nunchucks are also available. Whatever weapon you grab, remember to grab a second one.
There is no one reason why NBA ratings (in America) are declining. The NBA is facing a variety of issues that it can fix, and some problems can naturally fix themselves. So far it seems the message from the NBA is “sit tight and access”.
Style of Play Stinks!
There is no fix for taste. No one can suddenly like the taste of a food they’ve hated for years. On the other hand, too much of something you enjoy turns you off. Welcome to the NBA three-point revolution. Congrats to the Boston Celtics for ruining basketball. Just kidding. Slightly.
NBA games have turned into glorified three-point shooting contests. Many people will blame the Steph Curry-era Warriors, but the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship last year with a sole purpose in mind. Shoot threes all the time. The Celtics average 51 three-point attempts a game. Ten years ago the high was 32 a game.
Fans and media are being turned off by how much each game looks the same. It isn’t helping that, for the most part, every team is playing the same way. “We have to shoot more threes this season,” [insert any NBA coach].
There are fixes to this problem. The NBA has always changed the game. They introduced a three-point line in 1979 and eliminated the hand-check in 2004.
The best solution to this problem could be to remove the corner three and move the three-point line back. This would increase the level of difficulty and over time players would adjust their style of play.
Where are my (Young) People at?
This past summer the USA basketball team had a real moment at the Olympics. The team was led by LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant. All three are above the age of 35. At most, they have one to two more years at the top level left. None of these players are on a team that can realistically win the title.
The NBA’s overreliance on these three guys to carry ratings has hurt them. Extracting the last great moments out of these legends has cost the NBA with younger players. Few sports-talk shows discuss young ascending stars such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander(SGA), Anthony Edwards, and Luka Doncic. No one is turning the TV on to watch these players, mainly because they don’t occupy enough nationally televised games.
The style of play and the lack of young players propped up merge in their three-point shot attempts. Only Luka’s passing and Anthony Edwards’s athleticism stand out as unique characteristics. However, Luka and Edwards both shoot ten-plus threes a game. SGA’s foul-baiting style isn’t everyone’s favorite flavor.
KD, Steph, and LeBron will retire and the NBA will have a “power vacuum”. Media and the NBA will have to talk about other stars and the attention will get distributed more evenly.
Throughout the history of the NBA when a huge star has left, another has come along within a couple of years. Think Jordan leaving and then LeBron showing up a couple of years later.
This particular problem will likely sort itself out, and as much as the NBA could attempt to “anoint,” a next star, that person will appear naturally.
Where are the Dynasties?
Something that generates interest from casual to hardcore fans is hate. And everyone loves to hate a winner who is too dominant. Since 1999 there have been only three teams that have had a level of hate due to their success. The 2000s Lakers, the early 2010’s Heat, and the late 2010’s Warriors.
In the last six years, we’ve had six different champions. This is good for parity, fan-base belief, and competitive balance. It’s not good for ratings.
The Boston Celtics look like a strong repeat winner. However, as mentioned before, their style of play leaves a lot to be desired.
As mentioned earlier, the ratings and the various problems that are causing them are intertwined.
Ratings versus Attention
I don’t believe people have stopped caring about the NBA. People aren’t watching the game for various reasons. With the price to watch being a lot of money for league passes, and ticket prices (along with everything else) rising, people settle for Youtube highlights.
You can easily follow the NBA without watching live games. Fans can stay up to date with the latest rumors and action without having to turn on their TV.
There’s no fix for this, and the NBA should not want to fix it drastically. Many of my friends won’t watch until the playoffs but know everything about the MVP race, the Jimmy Butler rumors, and who won the NBA Cup.
Conclusion
The ratings are a problem. The ratings and the various reasons that are leading to their decline are being talked about. There will be changes one way or another.
Values for the NBA franchises have never been higher, nor has illegal streaming. For every good fortune going for the NBA, there is something on the product side that isn’t going great. The NBA finds itself in a tricky situation, especially when the media rights deal they recently signed was a massive increase on their last one.
No NBA star is controversial, except Ja Morant, who recently came out and said he’s going to stop dunking. Controversy mixed with a fun style of play drives ratings. Many NBA stars are quite boring off the court and corporate. This is great for the bottom line, but not great for NBA ratings.
There isn’t a single NBA player who is “appointment viewing,” whether that be through marketing or play style. Caitlin Clark is the only basketball star in our country who gets people to watch her. She plays in the WNBA, not the NBA. The WNBA ratings saw a 170% increase on ESPN in Clark’s first year.
What will happen…I don’t know. Keep following the NBA or don’t, either way, they’ll still make a load of money.
If you enjoyed, “Why are NBA Ratings (in America) Declining?” then check out Belly Up Sports!
Follow me on Twitter/X @nikgable37
Featured Image: Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
