Is the NBA popularity a mirage?

Of course you can't compare the NBA to the NFL in America. But when's the last time ESPN legitimately talked about say, the Disastros?

 

Globally the NBA is way more popular. But yeah people care about those top teams because those are the teams consistently shown on TV. As someone not living in the US why would you support the Bucks when TV shows the top teams and the Bucks aren't one of them.

You are a fan of the teams you are exposed to.

Like there are a lot of OKC fans everywhere now.

 

It's all Lin's fault!!!111.

No but seriously, if he brought linsanity to Houston the Rockets will be all over ESPN.

 

Actually no.

Linsanity was overhyped by the New York media.

 

Sure. But there is all the money.

 

ESPN pushes what it deems popular, not what the public wants to see. Very similar to the MTV and record industry model that emerged in the late 90's.

It's very strange, especially in the internet era where everything is user driven, but we're literally getting things shoved in our face based on what ESPN dictates. They don't base programming topic focus on raw data, someone is pulling strings based of gut feel to an extent, that much is obvious. Nobody cares about Tebow as much as ESPN does. Its bizarre. Other media outlets follow suit thinking ESPN's logic must be accurate but if you think about it, it really is ESPN leading the charge.

Perhaps they get kickbacks from the companies endorsing specific athletes they cover? In the internet world this would equate to paying for blog posts on a high-traffic blogs.

And yes, Stern ushered in the players vs player marketing regime that still has a death grip on the NBA despite league rules that promote a more team-oriented style of play. To Stern's credit he advocated moving away from that marketing strategy after Jordan retired. Nothing came of it.

Thanks Disney.

 

I think he will be if he does well in the playoffs. If the Rockets make the second round, then definitely.

 

The rockets are about to make the playoffs and all we heard about is who the texans should take in the 5th round. I think Rockets just stopped playing 95% of this city wouldn't care.

 

Every Texans game is televised for the entire city to see.

Right now, 60% of the city can't see Rockets games on their TV.

That's is killing them in terms of the consciousness of the city.

And the NFL is a beast...comparing any sport to the NFL is a joke right now in terms of popularity.

 

Even if they were on the TV I still think no one would care.

 

Why? lots of people do not care the football, specially for some new immigrants, but they like to follow NBA because it is international.

 

ESPN is not broadcasted only in America.

I don't live in America and ESPN is one of the biggest sports channel around.

 

I think they will. People definitely want to watch them. When the games are on for everyone to see during the playoffs there will be more buzz. If everyone could see the game, people would talk about them more.

 

Popularity matters a LITTLE. But I think its still less the actual popularity of the sports, and more to do with just the sports themselves with having that extended coverage on strategies. There's plays in basketball, but not NEAR the extend of football.

There's 11 players on each side of the ball in NFL. Thats already more than twice the NBA players to account more ( slightly lessened filtering it to just the "skills" positions in the NFL). US football you can give a team a base formation, and then run a myriad of different plays and looks and motions from it.

NBA is more free flowing and "tighter" within a smaller court of play.

Basically US football just requires that much more focus. In basketball, you can go to the gym and just start running up and down. In a pickup football game, you'd have to do a little more breaking down the positions and getting a scheme and you'd need to know in advance what each player is gonna do. Having a "playbook" just makes sense.

 

It's interesting to think about what if the Texans were the team that created a cable channel and could not be seen by more then half of Houston.... there might be an actual riot with pitchforks and torches outside of Comcast locations across the city.

 

I think direct tv, Dish, ATT would have to get the channel. The texans actually draw big ratings.

 

Yes, in my household, football is a bit of a religion. I'm afraid to say that on one wall, I have all my high school football pics next to a framed 1975 Sports Illustrated cover of my childhood hero, Bubba Bean (gig' em Aggies!) To some of you, that might seem a bit much.

Big media isn't helping basketball the way they could, so it's up to us to encourage new fans and spread the word. In my mind, there's nothing comparable to the non-stop action and energy of a basketball game. From the opening tipoff all the way to the final possession, it's go, go go, especially for this year's Rockets team.

 

The NBA is the 3rd most popular sport in the US regardless of which teams are talked about. Not sure what you mean by "mirage".

 

Yeah but they aren't the same channel, they are only the same in name.

 

The NHL is more popular than both in Canada. It's just the United States that worships the NFL so much.