I think people just have more viewing options in general. Viewership is trending down in most sports.
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Yet another bill introduced in Congress to permit collective bargaining by college athletes
- Thread starter EastOfEden
- Start date
I think people just have more viewing options in general. Viewership is trending down in most sports.
Remember the fuss about getting rid of the leather helmets?
That's true however compare the NBA championship to the Super Bowl which had 90 million viewers in 1998 and 100 million in 2020. The NBA went from 29 million in 1998 to 7.45 million in 2020. You think there should be major cause for concern by the NBA? All professional sports viewing is in decline but nothing compared to what's happen with the NBA imo.
Perhaps they should be. There have been other sharp rise and falls in viewership over the years. Right after 1998, which was not really representative either, there was a very sharp decline. The NBA may have a problem but we'll need more seasons to say for sure and just to what extent.
Viewing might be down, but that is a generational thing more so than anything else. All TV viewing is fragmented with various ways to consume that content. So there will never be viewers for these events like decades ago. We consume all information now in bites and bytes...50+ watch TV. The rest do not.
The 2020 NBA playoffs were the lowest in viewer history which I don't believe bodes well. 98 was a great year for the NBA and had a lot of interest by the fans. As you say we'll just have to wait and see but I can't see TV handing out huge contracts with the numbers they've been getting the past 3 to 5 years.
I agree it's a very changed market now. I point to the NBA because they had absolutely dismal numbers for the championship games. You'd think with Covid they could have pulled in more viewers then what happened. Advertisers aren't going to pay big bucks for those kind of numbers imo. Have to see how it plays out the next couple of years.
2020 was awful because the games were on at 10 in the morning on a Tuesday. Sometimes 3 games a day. 2020 was an anomaly due to Covid.
Barkley said one of the NBA owners said with the revenue they will get from legalized gambling, streaming etc.. they won’t need TV contracts. I was surprised to hear that and you know the owners will siphon every pile of money they can access.
I’d like to see Brooklyn, the Knicks and even PHX shake it up in the playoffs. Maybe new blood is lifting interest this year. I never watch the NBA but it does well where there is a team in market.
I don't. But then at my age, my memory isn't what it used to be.
My whole family…wife and two sons would watch the Chicago Bulls on TV….virtually anytime they were on…..even Tuesday “school nights.”
Michael, Scotty, the crazy man Rodman, Luke Longley, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoch.
It was SPORT….and great basketball….and always fun….and the Bulls played defense…and it was great defense!
I tried watching The NBA since those years and the game has changed so much. It has also gotten commercialized and politicized to a point I just lose interest anymore.
The NBA, IMHO is the poster child of what college sports is quickly heading to.
And it will be a shame.
I do think real efforts should be made on player graduation rates and things that will actually better a young players life. Medical coverage, even disability if they are seriously injured playing for a school. Things like that.
Bulk payments, contracts and Unions seem so out of place and unnecessary overkill in this regard.
Michael, Scotty, the crazy man Rodman, Luke Longley, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoch.
It was SPORT….and great basketball….and always fun….and the Bulls played defense…and it was great defense!
I tried watching The NBA since those years and the game has changed so much. It has also gotten commercialized and politicized to a point I just lose interest anymore.
The NBA, IMHO is the poster child of what college sports is quickly heading to.
And it will be a shame.
I do think real efforts should be made on player graduation rates and things that will actually better a young players life. Medical coverage, even disability if they are seriously injured playing for a school. Things like that.
Bulk payments, contracts and Unions seem so out of place and unnecessary overkill in this regard.
The NBA got themselves heavily involved in Politics for whatever reason…all the tension and passionate opinions…. MLB seems to have flirted with that approach but never really jumped all in like the NBA…and now have gone back to what they do best…a traditional, slow, easy to watch and relax contest outdoors with great athletes in beautiful, storied ball parks. A true family venue. NFL just kind of ignored the whole thing and played…football….as best they could…gee what a concept
IMHO people simply don’t want “politics“ involved in sports…it divides rather than bring folks together on “neutral” ground. Makes folks uncomfortable in their normal “safe zone” where a Republican and a Democrat can cheer together for their favorite player and team, boo the umpire, slap each other on the backs for the home run or TD. Liberals and conservative, white, black, Asian, Hispanic Native American…doesn’t matter. And yes there has AWAYS been politics in sport. But the NBA took it to a level never before seen and may have irreparably damaged that league forever. Hopefully I’m wrong on this.
But there is clear reason why the Olympics were formulated on the precept of keeping politics out as much as possible. And that formula has remained pretty successful over the years regardless of some major hiccups along the way. And the “Ideal“ is a good one!
College sports seems headed down the same “politicized” road and that frightens me.
IMHO people simply don’t want “politics“ involved in sports…it divides rather than bring folks together on “neutral” ground. Makes folks uncomfortable in their normal “safe zone” where a Republican and a Democrat can cheer together for their favorite player and team, boo the umpire, slap each other on the backs for the home run or TD. Liberals and conservative, white, black, Asian, Hispanic Native American…doesn’t matter. And yes there has AWAYS been politics in sport. But the NBA took it to a level never before seen and may have irreparably damaged that league forever. Hopefully I’m wrong on this.
But there is clear reason why the Olympics were formulated on the precept of keeping politics out as much as possible. And that formula has remained pretty successful over the years regardless of some major hiccups along the way. And the “Ideal“ is a good one!
College sports seems headed down the same “politicized” road and that frightens me.
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