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Adam Silver we have a big problem: the NBA doesn’t do ratings. This is what the data collected by says Front Office Sports, who explain a problem the league has been trying to combat for a long time. The pharaonic renewal of television rights which brought 77 billion dollars into the League’s coffers and which will start from 2025-26 was of no avail. The numbers from the first few weeks speak for themselves: there is little interest in the NBA.
The rematch of Western Conference Finals last year between Dallas Mavericks e Minnesota Timberwolvesbroadcast by TNTrecorded on Tuesday’s American evening average of 1.07 million viewers. This shows a significant 17% drop compared to the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers last season.
ESPN fares no better: the rematch of Eastern Conference Finals of last year between Boston Celtics e Indiana Pacers it attracted just 1.01 million viewers. San Antonio Spurs-Oklahoma City Thunder it did even worse: only 730,000 spectators. The first match was only down 2% from New Orleans Pelicans–Oklahoma City Thunder last year, but the second was even down 51% compared to the Los Angeles derby.
Do we want to put more irons on the fire? The MLB World Series from New York Yankees e Los Angeles Dodgerswere seen by an average of 15.8 million of spectators. MLB recorded a 74% increase more than last year’s World Series between Texas Rangers e Arizona Diamondbackswhich had also recorded record ratings.
The commissioner of the MLB Rob Manfred he said, during this year’s World Series, that all of this is the culmination of several league initiativesincluding the great marketing done on the stars of the championship come Shohei Otani and greater attention to the international appeal of the sport. This has led to playing games abroad, in places where baseball is widely followed such as Tokyo, London, Seoul and Santo Domingo. How does the NBA respond? Barely a slight revision of the format of its own All-Star Gamean event already disastrous in its own right.
The lack of a universal face and reviewable marketing
One of the problems of the NBA is that the stars who have dominated for the last 10-15 years are getting older. NBA names in the last decade have been LeBron James, Stephen Curry e Kevin Durant. Although all three of their teams have started the season positively, no one expects to see them at NBA Finals. Also Team USAfor the victory at Olympic Games of Paris, clung to them after the disgrace of last year’s World Cup.
Young stars like Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Ja Morant e Trae Young they have not yet attracted the same audience as the aforementioned trio, partly due to a lack of titles. They have fallen behind international players like Nikola Jokic e Giannis Antetokounmpo which, despite their success, failed to convince American viewers. There is Luka Doncic but the lack of a title, which could also be the MVP, weighs heavily on the American public.
This week might be the best example of the situation. LeBron, Curry and Durant will be on stage with their games on ESPN. Curry’s Golden State Warriors will face the Boston Celtics in a rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals. Phoenix Suns of Durant will face i Dallas Mavericks and James’ Lakers will play against the Philadelphia 76erswhich they will still be without Joel Embiidthis time due to a suspension.
Going back to what was said about MLB’s expansion policies, it is possible that Adam Silver does not see at potential to play other matches abroad besides Mexico City and Paris? Many European markets would be a very attractive stage for the NBA, if the event was managed well.
The perfect example is that of the NFL, which plays regular season games between London, Munich, Frankfurt and from this year Sao Paulo. The regular season games played in Germany even brought the American Football League to open an office in Düsseldorf. The reason? Follow the German market better. Is it possible that the NBA, despite the Europeanization of its league, is sleeping?
