Or people do not watch 48 minutes of basketball but instead either don't watch at all or watch 8 minute edited highlights.
I think it goes too far saying she's one of the main reasons, but she's almost certainly one of the reasons
This is happening for several reasons 1. Every f*cking talking head has been pushing the narrative that its bad for like 20 yrs. PARTICULARLY FORMER PLAYERS - They use these platformed to self serving self-aggrandizing how their time was tougher and better etc etc. So much better for their egos to say there didn't get rings because of THE GOAT 2. Reactionary takes "OH MY GOD! They missed 75 three-pointers!!!" Like one step inside the line would make it more entertaining or watching Kevon Looney work it from the elbow I watched 80s and 90s basketballs Look at the Field Goal percentages" 1940s 29.9 1950s 37.1 1960s 43.2 1970s 46.2 1980s 48.5 <--- Represents the high point in popularity -- Also represents a time were Defense was optional which lead to 1990s 46.4 2000s 44.9 <--- Late 90s to 2000's became a slug fest which lead to the Chucker Era - we loved one player putting up 40 shots a night 2010s 45.6 <-- The 3 pt era begins in earnest. 2020s 46.7 <--- look at that . . . .almost as glorious as the 90s Many players lack some skills maybe too many specialists Is Golden State more entertaining if they got called for all the moving screens? Is AI so dominant if they call palming? is MJ the goat is he did get the sugar whistle? The game needs some tweaks but I think the PERCEPTION of the game is more a problem than the actual game It's not that a woman did the finals that is a problem IT'S THAT IT IS THAT WOMAN!! I can see that The League only has like 5 players LeBron - Steph - KD - Joker - Luka - and sometimes Giannis There is also IMO a narrative to undermine American Players and prop up international players to "grow the game" Rocket River
Doris Burke is very intelligent, professional and ... BORING. End of story. But I can't see that as a main reason for moving ratings. It just gives some board of directors the virtuous-fizz that they have promoted a female into a top position. My guesses for ratings drop are the last generation of stars being massive divas with a galactically sized sense of entitlement, a lack of fresh villains or storylines, and predictable games with an increase in blowouts and tanking. NBA still needs time to recover from its obvious coddling of Golden State and LeBron at the expense of everyone else for almost a full decade. The league also needs two new household name megastars.
She is boring . .. and biased as hell . .. At this point i don't know if this is just her or if she has been instructed to push narratives Star Coddling and IMO picking winners is another issue People think the NBA is more WWE than anything Primarily because of narratives and inconsistent Reffing If I'm betting . . .before I know the teams let me know the REFS . . .and that is a problem Household names are not as easily made as they use to be Rocket River
I am not sure if the old stars were better personalities. But the present day stars' stinking personalities are definitely magnified by the proliferation of social media. Most of us fans don't care very much about the players' personalities as long as they play good basketball. But personalities do affect somewhat how much we enjoy rooting for them. Also, why was Richard Jefferson assigned to call a cup semi final that featured the Houston Rockets? Everybody knows he's a Rockets hater.
NBA gets a superteam or dynasty led by a popular American player and ratings will shoot up Bird and the Celtics Magic and the Lakers Jordan and the Bulls Kobe-Shaq and the Lakers Lebron and the Heat Steph and the Warriors
There is too much media of all kinds now and fewer people are willing to be glued to watching live NBA games. I'm an old guy and can't even watch a Rockets game without being distracted. This is how the world is evolving. Live sports still command a premium, but if I miss a game, NBA.com box score video links (which are amazing!) and YouTube allow me watch specifically what I feel is most important in a few mins. Live games are only a piece of the NBA plus pie now, not the whole thing.
It is odd for me because I think Lebron is really a great player and his longevity is unmatched..... I follow his son's journey, I follow Lebron's goofy Youtubes but what I do not follow, I do not follow his games and his stat lines.....not really into that. Folks have a choice of blocking out whatever content. Here I am, still hugging NBA nuts.
The NBA has been a star driven league for decades. Even fans of opposing teams would buy tickets to watch MJ, Kobe, Lebron, or Curry do their thing. It's unfortunate, but team oriented basketball like the Spurs played in the first half of the 2010's was never a ratings draw. The latest crop of superstars don't have the same kind of pull. Kids aren't idolizing Jokic, Giannis, or Embiid despite winning all of the MVP awards of the past six years. Luka, SGA, and Edwards play a more marketable game, but we'll see if they can carry the league the way the past iconic players did.
Here is the thing NBA GAMES ARE DOWN but I GUARANTEE that the amount of NBA related content streamed and interacted with is beyond anything we could imagine TikToks/instragrams/youtube NBA channels and clips are getting MILLIONS of views daily It's like this - in 1990 NBA content was say . .40 million views distributed between 3 stations for games and 3 stations for news Now. . . its like 400 million views distributed between like 20 stations/streams/sport packs for games and literally hundreds of podcasts/news/youtubes for commentary and news The NBA is just not getting as big a slice Rocket River
Jokic Giannis and Embid - their game requires people to reach a height that only less than 1% will every achieve Luka SGA and Edwards have similar heights but they seem more accessible One of the reasons Steph is all over the world is. . . . I am almost as tall as Steph He FEELS like a more reasonable goal Rocket River
It’s not like the game of basketball isn’t popular still people. It’s an awesome game. Climate controlled in winter. Affordable to get kids to play. Etc etc. As Rockets River states it’s not like over all the platforms and how often play is clipped and shared that the NBA is suffering overall saturation of the sports market. I see a lot of clipped content on Tik Tok, Bluesky, YouTube etc. I do think the commentary and narratives pushed by the old school talking heads has hurt people’s perception of the game for sure though. We live in a world of constant propaganda and narratives. People are easily swayed if you repeat something over and over. Inside the NBA and ESPN hurt the product narrative with fans more than they help it IMO. That being said they aren’t wrong about the watchability of the NBA when it’s nothing but step back 3’s. Im totally for allowing hand checking above the 3 point line to where the 3 point shot is only really taken when wide open. Problem solved and you could overnight bring more variance to the offense. I do think the NBA is about 2 stars short right now too and they gotta stop it with the PR training they get that turns every interview into the same scripted answers you get from every player. Let players be individuals again. As long as they don’t cuss and say offensive stuff who cares? That’s really how stars are created off the court when you let people like Charles Barkley exist and stop training players to be drones. Interviews are so boring. Let some drama happen.
Mid Game interviews need to stop Wacky camera angles need to stop ishty commentary needs to stop excessive commentary about non basketball stuff (i.e. social media) needs to stop Stuff like CP3 and Harden having like a 1-768 record when a certain ref is working . .. needs to stop Rocket River
My viewership declined sharply when we cut the cable. Getting the subscriptions required to watch games doesn't justify the cost any more, so I'm relegated to watching at sports bars and "other methods". Even a small increase in difficulty will kill ratings with casual fans.
Kids didn't try to emulate Shaq's game but he was must-watch TV. His first matchup with Yao, another giant whose game no one could copy, was marketed like a heavyweight title fight. Although I guess heavyweight fights have lost their popularity lately too.
Not a fan of Doris. Doris way too bias on certain players, which is not something you want on national games. Espeically neutral sites like Vegas. And I don't want make it female vs male thing; if they wanted to give the farm system a shot. There are capable female broadcaasters. Net's Sarah Kustok has better analysis and more pleasant to listen to. There are better commentators out there.
