Why is the NBA getting all this criticism about the game and the TV networks get off scot-free?

[gtj1982]

You’re not paying attention if you don’t notice people shytting on ESPNs nba coverage.

But ultimately basketball is the product and it’s not as entertaining to me as it once was.

 

[Belize King]

None of this matters. Gen Alpha doesn’t watch anything but streamers live. Gen Y rarely catches games live as well. I “stream” games I want to watch but mostly watch the 9 minute house of highlights videos.

Silver found suckers to pay for the next 11 years. The bubble will pop and NBA will be MLB status in ten years.

Regardless, the NBA will be here as long as we are on earth. Caring about ratings, how to watch, millionaire and billionaire’s pockets, and production is pointless.

Enjoy Ja, the West, Knicks, Rockets and Celtics spamming threes.

 

[Art Barr]

You are correct. When disney got Wide world of sports coverage of th3 mba again. It took it right back to the trash it was.
when I was a shawty before CBS.

Disney is the first issue with why the nba sucks.
Then we can discuss the wack white luxury countey club on court trash play.


Art Barr

 

[murksiderock]

It was an effort by David Stern,
And the NBA taking over TV marketing the game to keep pace with Nike, who were far ahead spreading the beauty of basketball on the international stage.

The NBA put themselves in a position where dikk riding players became the focus. And that comes with the flaw because players retire… Teams don’t. If it wasn’t evidenced by the drop in viewership when Jordan first retired in 1993 then I don’t know what to tell you guys. I’ve only been saying this shyt for a QUATER CENTURY that it was a recipe for future failure. That future is here now and folks are acting brand fukking new.

Did it possibly start before Jordan? Like with Magic and Bird, and then Jordan Propaganda just amplified it?

 

[murksiderock]

None of this matters. Gen Alpha doesn’t watch anything but streamers live. Gen Y rarely catches games live as well. I “stream” games I want to watch but mostly watch the 9 minute house of highlights videos.

Silver found suckers to pay for the next 11 years. The bubble will pop and NBA will be MLB status in ten years.

Regardless, the NBA will be here as long as we are on earth. Caring about ratings, how to watch, millionaire and billionaire’s pockets, and production is pointless.

Enjoy Ja, the West, Knicks, Rockets and Celtics spamming threes.

The NBA will be MLB status while MLB is currently on the rise, it's poised to overtake the NBA in the next few years. All the signs are here...

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

The NBA will be MLB status while MLB is currently on the rise, it's poised to overtake the NBA in the next few years. All the signs are here...

What signs are those?

NBA is infinitely more popular than the MLB is, globally, so I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion.

 

[Rakpo98]

The NBA will be MLB status while MLB is currently on the rise, it's poised to overtake the NBA in the next few years. All the signs are here...

100% correct. MLB’s commissioner seems to care about the product, and how fans view it, and has made changes to the game that have ultimately been made successful. Attendance is up, and ratings for regular season games rose for the first time in years. It’s really hard to get changes approved in MLB, because the audience is significantly older than the NBA, and there are a lot of fans and journalists that are purists, and romanticize the game. Manfred has found the formula to implement successful changes to the game, while Silver has not found that formula yet.

Silver will eventually be forced to make changes to the game, if ratings continue to slide, and the product continues to be trashed by fans and the media. He needs to do something, because the fan and media perception of the league has never been lower. It seems like the NBA is in a strange place, where fans are frustrated with the league, and the NBA is playing defense on making changes, instead of being proactive.

 

[the next guy]

I think it's more than that though. Like the NFL can just throw things up and it's going to be good ratings. You have trash ass pre-season NFL games that in terms of ratings outdraw marquee NBA, MLB, games.

I feel like the NBA is still the most watched league after NFL. College Football probably is it's closest threat if they haven't outright passed them. But, the NBA still draws better than Baseball, Hockey, Soccer, MMA/Boxing etc. I honestly feel like the NFL bullying it's way into more nights that were traditionally NBA nights like Christmas. That is the real reason everyone is all WTF is happening to the NBA. That and then it's perfect for clickbait shyt like the Outkick a$$holes like to do. They won't say shyt about Nascar getting bushed by Fox for being a perennial ratings loser. There's more clicks and buzz talking about how the NBA is losing viewers. Because that can get traction.

I completely agree. There was no need for Christmas games at all. Let's be serious the NFL was flexing on the NBA and we all just let it go.

 

[the next guy]

100% correct. MLB’s commissioner seems to care about the product, and how fans view it, and has made changes to the game that have ultimately been made successful. Attendance is up, and ratings for regular season games rose for the first time in years. It’s really hard to get changes approved in MLB, because the audience is significantly older than the NBA, and there are a lot of fans and journalists that are purists, and romanticize the game. Manfred has found the formula to implement successful changes to the game, while Silver has not found that formula yet.

What signs are those?

NBA is infinitely more popular than the MLB is, globally, so I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion.

It took the MLB forever to make those changes, let's be fair. There was way too much resistance to the universal DH. And let's hold up with the popularity contest, MLB has a couple of franchise issues it needs to solve.

 

[Remote]

I don't think the NBA will ever fall behind MLB in popularity or status because it's a much more global game.

Baseball has the United States, Japan, Korea and some parts of Latin America. SOME. Because even that part of the world is futbol-dominant.

The NBA is big everywhere that MLB is, plus they have Europe.

I say this and baseball is my favorite sport.

 

[FukkaPaidEmail]

The NBA gets the majority of the blame because it’s their league..

They legislated emotion out the game

they wanted freedom of movement

they coddled players with load management and player empowerment until it was too late

They negotiated deals with companies on the verge of bankruptcy which forces fans to either upgrade from basic cable or illegally stream THEIR HOME TEAM

They allowed media narratives to be created

——-

Yes ESPN is culpable for allowing Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith to become the authority of daily basketball conversations for over a decade..two people that don’t know a thing about basketball fr but sat , debated and spewed nonsense about one man…Lebron . Now Lebron ain’t what he was..the NBA has nothing to fall back on.

But the NBA allowed it to happen. They went full blown players (Bron) over everything . Which created a nba fanbase of dikkriders/stans

The NBA allowed Stephen A Smith to flat out say small markets are bad for basketball and just keep shyt in Miami,NY and LA


—

Shoe companies take a little blame too because historically they built stars.

Dr.J,Barkley,Magic,Penny,Iverson and of course Jordan all benefitted from marketing by Nike/Converse or whoever .

For years as far as signature NBA shoes it’s been Jordan or nothing . Tried it with Bron but eventually he ran out of steam .. it’s not until recently we’ve seen Adidas,Puma and UA try to build someone outside of Bron in a major way.

 

[TAYLONDO SAMSWORTHY]

These promos had a major effect when zillions of people were sitting in their livingroom watching OG television. Now you got streaming services, bootleg streaming sites, hacked firesticks, etc.

Those promos today would be ineffective because the audience is fractured into many different platforms for viewing, not just “NBC at 8pm”

 

[O.T.I.S.]

if your favorite team is in a major market or popular, league pass PREVENTS you from watching games

This

And if you in the location too.



I just traveled and could watch the games of my team now


League pass is ass too… I actually contemplate keeping it. It’s even worse during playoffs/championship games too. You might as well unsubscribe during playoff time

 

[jadillac]

The NBA sold its soul when it signed that espn deal years ago.

The games lost their luster somewhat, especially during the regular season. Presentation became non-existant and it's just a factory of crank em out games with very few feeling special. Of course you got your marquee matchups at times lile say during the Heatles era. But most of the good games were still on TNT....and the TNT presentation made up for anything else

But It's just been SLOW trickle into where it is now.

 

[get these nets]

One of the things that strikes me about discussing the old days of the NBA is how many fans miss the NBA on NBC.
It makes sense. The game had big stars. You had the iconic Roundball Rock theme song.

But who really gets the credit for that? Was it the league, David Stern, or was it NBC itself?

In my mind, NBC was the driving force behind its success because of their theme song. Because of their production value. Because of their broadcast teams. Because of the narratives they would set up before games and each playoff series. This is all stuff that NBC was responsible for and delivered on.

David Stern wasn't creating these intros:



That wasn't a big playoff game. That was a random Saturday. But it put fans on notice and created interest.
Credit to NBC.

So it strikes me that when this is missing from the game, and fans seem dissatisfied with how the game is being marketed and its players promoted...and somehow the blame falls on the NBA and NOT on TNT, ESPN, TBS, etc...

I'm not sure I understand this.
TV Networks are paying billions of dollars for the rights to broadcast these games.

Shouldn't they be responsible for promoting and elevating their product?

David Stern had a hand in everything broadcast related to the NBA even before he was promoted to commissioner.
Before the iconic NBC days, when games used to air on CBS, his idea of promoting the superstars of the league for marketing purposes was evident in the intro.

Had the 3 biggest stars Dr. J, Bird, and Magic in the intro. Will try to find it on YouTube.

Stern played a part in all the broadcasting decisions in his era, and his golden touch lead to all parties making tons of money.