PHOTO: NBA.com
This start of the season NBA it proceeds a bit slowly, devoid of interesting storylines and without particular internal “dramas” other than the usual ones linked to the absences of Joel Embiid, the issue of load management, etc. etc., all things seen and reviewed that will disappear as the games progress. If, from the outside, this may seem like a purely “aesthetic” and personal entertainment problem, the upper levels of the League and the owners think otherwise, finding themselves facing a drop in American television ratings that is impossible to ignore. Don’t panic, the sources of NBA profit are many and very abundant (in the first part of THIS piece we will try to explain briefly), as also confirmed by the mammoth $77 billion agreement signed in the summer with NBC, Amazon and ESPN, but reaching Americans’ televisions is an absolutely primary objective, especially from a communication point of view. In an investigation into the data published on Front Office Sports, the hypothesis is put forward that one of the problems is linked to a lack of generational turnover from a strictly media point of view, to the absence of new faces who, in simple words, sell. This thesis was born by examining television data, reported by Sports Media Watchrelating to the Olympic Games, during which Team USA fielded together the 3 most representative icons of the last decade of the NBA and beyond, the usual LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry:
- the men’s basketball gold medal game had a 30-year record attendance
- 19.5 million average viewers on NBC and Peacock, highest figure since the match against Yugoslavia in Atlanta 1996, where it reached 25.8 million
- peak in the fourth period of 22.7 million viewers
- to give you an idea, the 2024 NBA Finals had an average of 11.31 million spectators, and no more than 19 million spectators have been seen in a single NBA Finals game since Warriors vs Cavaliers in 2017 (always Curry and LeBron)
- it is not a given that a gold medal match will have many viewers: the Tokyo 2021 final had an average of 9.3 million, 11.7 million in Rio in 2016
- the final was also the most streamed event of the Games, with 2.7 million average viewers across digital platforms.
Figures of the highest level, which almost make you smile when compared to these first weeks of American basketball, during which the NBA also had to compete with the last 2 matches of an edition of the World Series of Baseball among the most watched ever. Translating from Sports Media Watch, these are the averages for this season compared to those of the previous one:
Coverage of last Friday’s Pacers-Knicks game drew 830,000 viewers on ESPN as opposed to Game 1 of the World Series, down 47% from the 1.58 million Heat-Celtics during Game 1 last year. The evening game between the Suns and Lakers drew 1.37 million viewers, down 22% from last year’s Warriors-Kings game. Wednesday’s doubleheader fared better than Game 5: Celtics-Pacers attracted 1.01 million viewers and the evening Thunder-Spurs recorded an average of 0.73 million, down 2% and 51% respectively compared to Pelicans -Thunder (1.03 million) and Clippers-Lakers (1.48 million) last year.
Heading into Game 4 on Tuesday, TNT averaged 1.07 million viewers for Mavericks-Timberwolves – down 17% from Knicks-Cavaliers’ 1.30 million last year.
A significant setback after an opening week that dropped by a double-digit percentage in terms of views compared to last season, again according to Sports Media Watch, except for the opening night. Do you happen to know what event occurred? That’s right, the debut of the father-son duo “Lebron James”, which contributed to a 7% jump in NBA prime time this year compared to that of 2023 – when, however, Game 7 of the “National League Championship Series” always about baseball. Bronny James is a bit of a mascot of the NBA at the moment, given that peaks in terms of television ratings were also reached during his selection in the Draft (55th choice, not really very followed usually) and his debut in pre- season.
Returning to the matches, as Front Office Sports points out, the results of the match between the Warriors and Celtics, with Stephen Curry, will have to be monitored, as it is a rematch of the 2022 Finals and the challenge between 2 of the last 3 winners of the NBA title. Just like Kevin Durant and the Suns will challenge Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks, a game fairly felt by both sides. Before understanding the results without baseball, the thesis put forward is that a face known and appreciated by the American public is needed, more than Internationals like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, not too “media” in terms of stage presence – the first a little ‘ more than the second. Victor Wembanyama works more, but he is still an International, and the same goes for Luka Doncic. Fresh air from Anthony Edwards, who however has yet to fully establish himself as a superstar and for now does not even come close to reaching the level of the aforementioned.
A thesis, in fact, based on pure theory, but which may not be too far from reality. A reality in which the NBA struggles to “sell” itself as a television product.
NBA viewership continues to decline, and the league has yet to find the next star capable of drawing numbers similar to Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant, per @FOS
“The three stars showed their viewership pull when they teamed up with Team USA in the summer during the… pic.twitter.com/wBZ7iBz6Su
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 7, 2024
