AROUND the NBA:

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

That’s totally fine and I appreciate your perspective regarding the politics viewpoint. I don’t think it’s the main reason why viewership is down, but I think it should be mentioned in terms of gaffs. 
 
I think the national anthem isn’t political, as it’s a foundational thing that all Americans, regardless of party, are represented in and are apart of. Whether other Americans believe that or not is an entirely separate issue and a different conversation. I don’t care to debate politics at all. My main issue bringing it up was that as commissioner, Silver potentially polarized his viewership and ostracized close to half the country. 

Soccer has ads on jerseys because there are zero ad breaks for 45 mins at a time. Just a 15 min halftime break where it’s usually commentary about the 1st half. So in lieu of commercial breaks, there are ads on jerseys. That I understand. But the NBA is the furthest thing from that. We have a 3-5 minute ad break every 4-5 mins of game time. On top of in game ads, on top on ads on jerseys, on top of ads on courts. It’s ridiculous. 

In regards to gambling, I don’t care if people do it. I’m fine if Vegas allows people to bet on the league. What I don’t like is representatives and stewards of the league actively promoting gambling. I don’t need the Mavs saying they are partnering up with Fanduel for free bets. I don’t like Barkley giving me his parlay bets. It’s annoying. Leave that out of it.


And I suppose I should frame it as, Adam silver is a horrible commissioner for me, the consumer. He’s made it hard for me to watch the game. He’s diluted the product. He’s polarized the product. But at the same time, he’s made his bosses a boatload of money. But at what cost? Well we see it in the viewership numbers.

Politics... the anthem is shoved down our throats, again with heinous pro-slavery verses.  That's what the BLM movement is...  rethink what we have blindly accepted.  If you truly want to de-politicize the NBA, drop the anthem.  70% of NBA players are black.  You don't think the league should take that into consideration?  

Silver...  the boatload of money you refer to comes fans.  It's capitalism.  Boatloads of money = boatloads of fans giving their money.  It's the definition of success.

The league doesn't worry about the likes of you and me.  We're not going away.  It's about expanding the fanbase more than catering to we actual fanatics.  For me, the game has become more and more enjoyable.

[SleepingHero]

Politics... the anthem is shoved down our throats, again with heinous pro-slavery verses.  That's what the BLM movement is...  rethink what we have blindly accepted.  If you truly want to de-politicize the NBA, drop the anthem.  70% of NBA players are black.  You don't think the league should take that into consideration?  

Silver...  the boatload of money you refer to comes fans.  It's capitalism.  Boatloads of money = boatloads of fans giving their money.  It's the definition of success.

The league doesn't worry about the likes of you and me.  We're not going away.  It's about expanding the fanbase more than catering to we actual fanatics.  For me, the game has become more and more enjoyable.

I’m going to intentionally avoid the politics portion not because I don’t want to discuss it, but I just don’t want to discuss it here. Maybe we can talk about it more in ROTW? 

For the boatload of money. The majority of it comes from TV Network contracts paying for it. The rest does in some way come from fans, but I think that’s mostly due to inflated ticket prices and concessions. The fan is paying it, sure, but I don’t think that’s representative of fan engagement with the product as much as it’s people begrudgingly paying these prices because they want to see their favorite star that night once a year. 

As to the last paragraph, I 100% agree. The league could give less of a crap about you or I, because we’re going to watch no matter what.

[Chicagojk]

I am probably the wrong person to ask. Use to love Baseball, but it has been dead to me recently. Thought it was a dying sport, but they have done well lately. And the salaries.....

On the other hand, I consume a ton of NBA and unlike baseball is the talk of my circle. But the ratings are not good for the NBA. Weird.

[khaled1987]

Gambling... to me that's like people thinking certain crimes are up (that aren't) simply because it's covered more.  I lived in NOLA during the point shaving scandal.  Where gambling is dangerous is when you leave it in the dark.

Leaving it in the dark is one thing, actively promoting it is another. Gambling should be allowed but heavily discouraged. 
Kinda like smoking.

Regarding Silver, I don't think he is a bad commissioner, and he is actively trying to do new things.
But it always felt to me that his moves is more of a short term rather than long term moves.

People have a finite amount of time to spare for entertainments, and when you think of entertainments think of gaming, social media,movies and shows and Sports. Add that to other outdoor activities (attending games is part of it). Each one of those is an industry by itself.

This is the most competitive era for entertainment industries. And while almost everyone of them is growing, many suspects that we are close to the max amount of it, as people are already consuming most of times already in those industrie, outside of work. So, expanding the market isn't going to be a thing and they will have to compete more against each other. You see soccer actively trying to change things despite being most popular sports. Many during the super league discussion said that the game will be declining as young people are less and less engaging.

NBA in the past few years has admitted that it's main problem in viewership is those who are under 35, which is a bit scary thought on the long run.

I agree with some points that is stated above, 3 pt chucking is an issue, commentetery is another, how it is almost impossible for fans to watch their teams on one platform sucks. All of those are short term moves trying to raise money asap
I am not sure what is A.Silver power in all of this tbh. The 1t one is difficult to handle without a disastrous consequences, and ESPN et al are the ones that pays you, it is tough to force your rules on them.

In this regard, I feel the NBA will will be left behind in a decade or so, in comparison to the others.

[ballsrchr]

The NBA is the only major league in America that actively makes it as difficult as possible to watch their games. 

Adam Silver as a commissioner has failed every which way. I'm shocked he hasn't been ousted, but I suppose he has generated record breaking revenue for the owners.

The bold sentence is what pisses me off.  And it's no lie.

I quit watching baseball back in the early eighties, I think it was, when the players went on strike just before the World Series.

Edit: No...wait. I think I was still in school when that strike happened--8th grade, 9th grade, 10th grade? Well...my memory has defeated me. I guess it wasn't the world series, or maybe they made it up. I don't know. BUT it had to be in the early sixties! Who knew I was so old. The only time I know I'm old is when I look into a mirror. Or my memory defeats me about baseball. Damn...I'm gonna have to look this up...
More edit: Ok. Maybe it was the strike of 1972. I was going to the same school, same classroom for an apprenticeship about that time. Missed 86 games that were never made up. That's it! I've spent enough time with this. No Le Hace!

I quit watching football because my team, Yes....the Dallas Cowboys...disappointed me so...many...times.

And hey...I have a high tolerance for disappointment..  I've stuck with the Mavs from day 1 till now.

Shucks.  I've even quit watching the International tiddlywinks tournament.  The excitement was just too much for me.

I wasn't going to say anything about the political stuff, but...   No. No.  I'm not going to get into that.

[rocky164]

Viewership decline is a huge problem and if it’s not fixed the NBA will eventually become a shell of itself. Many have expressed some of the core problems: difficulty in watching your home team, regular season almost meaningless, too many star players missing too many games and so on. A lot of the problem goes back to too many games in too short of a time. Back to backs, 3 games in 4 nights, 4 games in 6 etc, destroy the product. Nobody wants to watch a basketball game where the players are too tired, or just not engaged. That’s why playoff basketball is so enjoyable. The players care and are typically well rested especially in the finals. The solution to improving the product is to reduce the number of games and have a maximum 3 games per week. This keeps the players rested and can dramatically improve the quality of the product on the court. A better product should increase viewership. However, this is a difficult pill to swallow. Fewer games generate less revenue for owners and eventually players. It’s just a difficult situation to reconcile

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

^ Getting rid of ALL back to backs seems like an obvious first step. But I guess there are reasons they don't want to extend the regular season another two weeks?

Reducing the number of games will never happen for money reasons.

[SleepingHero]

^  Getting rid of ALL back to backs seems like an obvious first step.  But I guess there are reasons they don't want to extend the regular season another two weeks?

Reducing the number of games will never happen for money reasons.

They could just start the league a bit earlier in October by 3 weeks and keep the number of games. That'd resolve the back to back's issue pretty easily and keep the owners happy. The only thing is that the players have a shorter summer because training camp would have to start in August vs. September.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I think the national anthem isn’t political, as it’s a foundational thing that all Americans, regardless of party, are represented in and are apart of.

This is inherently wrong. ALL Americans AREN'T represented and felt apart of.

[KillerLeft]

This "reduced viewership" conversation isn't new. There have been conversations about this for like a decade. I don't understand the economics involved, really, but the league doesn't seem bothered, and revenue continues to go up, as evidenced by the rising cap and salaries.

It has seemed to me like the NBA is fine with people not watching full games, as they've pointed out how ahead of the curve they are with things like social media engagement, fans following their season like a soap opera, etc. I have no idea whether it's good for the health of basketball as a sport, but I don't think the NBA as a business is hurting in the least.

[Chicagojk]

This "reduced viewership" conversation isn't new. There have been conversations about this for like a decade. I don't understand the economics involved, really, but the league doesn't seem bothered, and revenue continues to go up, as evidenced by the rising cap and salaries.

It has seemed to me like the NBA is fine with people not watching full games, as they've pointed out how ahead of the curve they are with things like social media engagement, fans following their season like a soap opera, etc. I have no idea whether it's good for the health of basketball as a sport, but I don't think the NBA as a business is hurting in the least.

That is true.  It is a bad narrative to hear from the media.  Does it really matter though?  They just signed a record breaking tv contract.  The nba talking pretty high compared to baseball and I believe the crowds in arenas are good.

[SleepingHero]

I think the national anthem isn’t political, as it’s a foundational thing that all Americans, regardless of party, are represented in and are apart of.

This is inherently wrong. ALL Americans AREN'T represented and felt apart of.

If you read the next sentence, you'd have answered your next post. 

Regardless, we can debate about it on ROTW, not on the Mavs side. We get enough politics everywhere else in our lives.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

If you read the next sentence, you'd have answered your next post. 

Regardless, we can debate about it on ROTW, not on the Mavs side. We get enough politics everywhere else in our lives.

Fair enough.

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/BricksCenter/status/...8722096321

THJ still being THJ LOL


What's even more hilarious is that he hit 3 threes in OT to help put the game away. The THJ experience in a nutshell.

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

I think the national anthem isn’t political, as it’s a foundational thing that all Americans, regardless of party, are represented in and are apart of.

This is inherently wrong. ALL Americans AREN'T represented and felt apart of.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://twitter.com/BricksCenter/status/...8722096321

THJ still being THJ LOL


What's even more hilarious is that he hit 3 threes in OT to help put the game away. The THJ experience in a nutshell.

He helped them win a game. What's wrong with that?  LOL

[michaeltex]

I think you have to be careful with viewership information.

The NBA starts the season right in the middle of NFL + CFB + BB playoffs, so nobody other than true fans are really paying attention until after Thanksgiving (in the US, anyway). Now CFB is playing out meaningless bowl games in places like Mobile, AL, or Shreveport, LA (real garden spots, let me say) and few are watching until the playoff games around Jan 1st. NFL has mostly sorted into the good/bad teams and there is little mystery left until playoff time. BB was done (finally) back in early NOV.

Now the NBA gets more visibility. Holidays + winter keeps us indoors more and likely increases entertainment consumption. Plus the sheer volume of alternative sports has tapered off. CBB has started, but nobody is paying that much attention and most won't until it is conference tournament time followed by March Madness ©.

Add into it the expansion of entertainment opportunities clamoring for our attention and it takes real dedication to keep up in the first third of the season. TBH, I sprung for the MAVSTV/League Pass package because I got tired or remembering which streaming service was carrying TNT. It also lets me spend time with the family then watch the replay later that evening.

I do think the ESPN NBA product is sub-par. IMO, Doris Burke is the least interesting analyst out there. JVG made me grit my teeth sometimes, but Doris brings nothing to the table. They need to re-think their strategy and quit firing the experienced guys who know something of the game.

Is there a marketing gap? The world at large know LBJ, Durant and Curry, but they are all at the end of their careers, or close to it. Luka has some recognition here and certainly in Europe. As does Jokic. But who recognizes Ja or SGA or Ant or Tatum outside of NBA fans? Who is next in terms of becoming the "face" of the league that is known beyond the sport?

Sorry for going so long.

[SleepingHero]

He helped them win a game. What's wrong with that?  LOL

You don't find it a perfect encapsulation of THJ as a player where in the same game, he hit 3 big shots to put the team up, only for the very last crucial possession he threw the ball away and gave Miami a chance to win it?

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/NBAPR/status/1869103301079499035

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/TheDunkCentral/status/1869112839132336193

@TheDunkCentral
Kevin Durant says he hates the new NBA All-Star format

“I hate it. Absolutely hate it. Terrible….We should just go back to East-West.”