If you’re a business like the NBA, you want eyeballs. At least. What you really want is for someone to buy your product. That’s what is known as the “bottom line.”
So the NBA needs all of that — people to watch your product, to talk about your product, to consume your product, and to want to spend money on your product.
Compared to most major industries, the NBA isn’t way up there in those areas. It never has been. Though I would venture to say the league is more popular now than it was in the 1980s and 1990s, when most people thought there were about four teams (Celtics, Bulls, 76ers and Lakers).
Anyway, all we seem to hear today is that NBA ratings are down. And guess what? They probably are. But whenever I hear that, my first thought is, “Well, the league just announced a lucrative new media rights deal. Can’t be all bad.”
For the record, that deal reportedly is for 11 years and in the $75 billion range. Disney-owned ESPN and ABC are retaining media rights. NBC Sports and Amazon Prime are new partners. And TNT is suing the league to remain part of the package.
So if ratings are down, it’s not impacting that bottom line. It hasn’t impacted sponsorships or, it seems, receipts at the gate. No, the NBA isn’t the NFL in terms of interest. Never has been, never will be. It’s probably not even MLB. It’s definitely not college football.
Now, there are a few things wrong with the NBA, without question. A lot of people seem turned off by 3-pointers being at the center of every team’s offense. Star players can’t seem to stay on the court, as injuries are piling up at record rates — and the league office has no clue how to fix it, despite multiple attempts.
And yes, it seems as if most consumers are more interested in trade rumors than what actually transpires on the floor. (We know what sells on this very website, for instance. And it ain’t game coverage.)
So it’s true that fewer people seem to be watching the NBA — at least full games — these days. That’s why we have an NBA Cup (or in-season tournament). Commissioner Adam Silver is trying to drum up eyeballs. It didn’t really work.
Diehards who already care about the NBA seem to think an in-season tournament is cool. But people who already aren’t watching games aren’t tuning in because of a regular-season Cup. All it seems to do is confuse the casuals even more.
Anyway, back to the TV ratings. Up, down, sideways, it’s really not that big of a deal. People are consuming sports in different ways than just television. For instance, broke college kids have ways to find games, and those (usually illegal) methods don’t exactly drive up ratings. Quite the opposite.
So the key here isn’t the ratings, it’s that the league is getting the business it needs to flourish financially, and if it so wishes, to expand. And that’s truly the bottom line.
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Spike was right, it’s gotta be the shoes.
That’s the thing that’s changed most in the past few decades. The textures, shapes, and materials of the shoes. What they’re wearing now has everything going on except the basic flexion path of a human foot.
They made shoes that are supposed to all the work for you, or protect you from the next alien invasion. They’re tanks. The foot is basically in a cast. Can’t move. Compare the flexibility to the old days of Chuck Taylor and Nike Force.
The result of feet that can’t move and do work means the rest of the body is compensating. Achilles. Ankles. Knees. Hips. Anything that will twist and flex. These rigid space ships on these guys’ feet have nothing to do with basketball.