Anecdotally, of the people I know who in the past would have watched the NBA religiously or casually and now pretty much don't or watch much less for the purpose of tv ratings it's some combination of pirate stream instead, don't really watch at all but sort of follow the league on social media/box scores/etc. with not having Rockets broadcasts on Youtube/Hulu/etc being part of that, checked out because they thought the league was "too woke" around 2019-2020 and haven't come back, not having a marketable A list start like MJ, Bird/Magic, or prime Bron, style of play, and too many other entertainment options/lack of the NBA being a monoculture experience anymore. Some of that is attributable to ebb and flow over time but the big battle for the NBA is that if you look at the sports that are doing well it's because the broadcast feels like a type of monoculture event viewers don't want to miss. Big matchups in college football, NFL, March Madness, goofy stuff like the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match, and even to an extent Caitlin Clark hooping sort of tapped into that. The NBA's 82 game schedule and playoff format are a challenge with current consumption patterns.
I have the same experience. Only a Few of my friends who used to live and breathe NBA still even follow the NBA but the other 90% of them haven’t watched in years. Watching the NBA almost feel like adults that still watch professional wrestling; literally how many of y’all watched WWF/WWE in your teen and still watch today as adults? It’s a niche market, and devoted fan base, but fringe percentage of the population. The NBA has to do everything possible to make the game unbiased, they have to stop favoring the media darling, it harms the league in the long run.
The recent media agreements speak well for the popularity of the NBA. Why don't we discuss this again closer to 2036.
The recent media agreements speak well of what broadcasters were willing to pay for the rights. It’s not necessarily the same thing. Disney greenlit a $280 million dollar production budget for John Carter. These companies can make bad decisions. What’s true either way is that in the near term this is potentially Disney’s, NBCUniversal’s, and Amazon’s problem more than the NBA’s. The league has got a lot of time to figure it out if this really is a potential issue down the road.
It's not easy to watch sports, especially for people in their teams TV market. I live in Austin and can use league pass but you can't in Houston.
people are watching on their phones and tablets, they don't watch network TV as much anymore, Cowherd needs to up his understanding of modern media. DD
I dont care lol. The NBA doesnt care either they already scammed NBC. Even if ratings plummet to 5% of what it once was they will get paid regardless till the next contract renewal.
