The NBA has a ratings problem

[MeloTheJazzKiller]

At least they don’t go with that Players Only trash. ....

Yeah, that Player's Only was the stupidest, most insulting thing any network ever came up with. Player's only? Thanks a lot. I guess us mere mortals who never played NBA ball - that means 99.99999% of the world - don't matter. I'd love to meet the a**hole who came up with the Player's Only idea. Guess what, I never watched NBA on Tuesday nights. It was Players Only. What dopes.

Notice they didn't bring that stupidity back this season.

 

[magic]

You know what else is not fun to watch? Seeing someone score 60 points where 20 of those points were scored from the free throw line. Harden attempted more free throws than the entire Hawks team. It honestly makes all those high scoring games seem meaningless.

 

[Surely]

No sports league tailors anything for the fans. $39 just to park your car at Yankee Stadium. $39 just so my car can set on a slab of concrete. My car isn't going to the game, it can't name one guy on the Yankees, but it has to pay $39.

Wow, that's expensive. What kind of job does your car have to pay for stuff like that?

 

[Surely]

I had a friend 20 years ago stop watching the NBA. He told me he was sick of watching the refs take over games. He pointed out that if each quarter they make 2 extra calls for one team and miss 2 calls for the other team (that doesn't seem like much, right?) that could end up being a 32 point swing in the game.

 

[Gameface]

I had a friend 20 years ago stop watching the NBA. He told me he was sick of watching the refs take over games. He pointed out that if each quarter they make 2 extra calls for one team and miss 2 calls for the other team (that doesn't seem like much, right?) that could end up being a 32 point swing in the game.

I've always said the math isn't that straight forward. I mean obviously 32pts would decide most games, but sometimes it could be much bigger than that but seldom in raw score differences, because that's honestly not how basketball works.

The refs can target specific behavior, and sometimes do so openly. When they target specific behavior and call it tightly on a player who often walks that line they can effectively remove a player from having an impact on the game, even if that player doesn't get into foul trouble.

If the refs target a specific facet of one teams game plan they can send that team into complete disarray as they try to figure out how to play a professional NBA game without a game plan.

This doesn't usually result in 32 point blowouts. The ebb and flow of basketball naturally keeps the score closer even when the end result is not in doubt.

Just imagine if the refs decided to flip the way they officiated Harden, like imagine if the league sent them all about 20min of video with specific instructions and said "These are illegal plays, fouls, etc. and you need to blow the whistle on these." They could easily turn Harden into a single digit scorer. Easily.

 

[Gameface]

So the NBA has a ratings problem?

It has nothing to do with how many people are watching.

Every game there are several people on this site who come here fishing for an illegal stream. Those are just the fools who don't already have their illegal stream game down.

And just because the last contract with China was small doesn't mean the next contract will be as small.

People are watching the NBA. They're gonna be fine. Ratings are absolutely not a problem, and if it is a problem the problem is with illegal streams, not with viewership.

 

[infection]

I've always said the math isn't that straight forward. I mean obviously 32pts would decide most games, but sometimes it could be much bigger than that but seldom in raw score differences, because that's honestly not how basketball works.

The refs can target specific behavior, and sometimes do so openly. When they target specific behavior and call it tightly on a player who often walks that line they can effectively remove a player from having an impact on the game, even if that player doesn't get into foul trouble.

If the refs target a specific facet of one teams game plan they can send that team into complete disarray as they try to figure out how to play a professional NBA game without a game plan.

This doesn't usually result in 32 point blowouts. The ebb and flow of basketball naturally keeps the score closer even when the end result is not in doubt.

Just imagine if the refs decided to flip the way they officiated Harden, like imagine if the league sent them all about 20min of video with specific instructions and said "These are illegal plays, fouls, etc. and you need to blow the whistle on these." They could easily turn Harden into a single digit scorer. Easily.

I find it laughable when people try to argue that officiating has a negligible effect on outcomes. They don’t have to go all out to change outcomes, either. All it takes is small momentum swings. Another thing that baffles me is how some people can hold political opinions about an entire system that oppressed certain peoples and drastically alters their ability to function in life, but then at the same time don’t believe NBA officiating or the league office can have any kind of malice or ulterior motives other than pure altruism about protecting the “integrity” of “the game.”

 

[Gameface]

I find it laughable when people try to argue that officiating has a negligible effect on outcomes. They don’t have to go all out to change outcomes, either. All it takes is small momentum swings. Another thing that baffles me is how some people can hold political opinions about an entire system that oppressed certain peoples and drastically alters their ability to function in life, but then at the same time don’t believe NBA officiating or the league office can have any kind of malice or ulterior motives other than pure altruism about protecting the “integrity” of “the game.”

Exactly. The same people who scream "call a timeout!" because the momentum is getting away from a team might say "don't blame the officials." Well if calling that timeout can help control momentum then surely calling a charge on a monster dunk (where there wasn't much of a charge) can change momentum, or calling a foul on a clean block. Those calls don't have to add up to 32pts to absolutely change the game.

 

[infection]

Exactly. The same people who scream "call a timeout!" because the momentum is getting away from a team might say "don't blame the officials." Well if calling that timeout can help control momentum then surely calling a charge on a monster dunk (where there wasn't much of a charge) can change momentum, or calling a foul on a clean block. Those calls don't have to add up to 32pts to absolutely change the game.

This just popped up as a suggested video for me so I figured I’d link it. It’s pretty good. One F word around 6:25 mark.

Spoiler

 

[Gameface]

This just popped up as a suggested video for me so I figured I’d link it. It’s pretty good. One F word around 6:25 mark.

Spoiler

The officials often set the "tone" of the game early. It becomes clear in the first 5min how the officials are going to call a game. I dare anyone to deny that, or to even deny that it's obvious.

 

[MeloTheJazzKiller]

Wow, that's expensive. What kind of job does your car have to pay for stuff like that?

Point is cars do not have jobs. No income so it is the fan that has to pay the $39 for the car. You really couldn't figure that out?

 

[oneye]

So the NBA has a ratings problem?

It has nothing to do with how many people are watching.

Every game there are several people on this site who come here fishing for an illegal stream. Those are just the fools who don't already have their illegal stream game down.

And just because the last contract with China was small doesn't mean the next contract will be as small.

People are watching the NBA. They're gonna be fine. Ratings are absolutely not a problem, and if it is a problem the problem is with illegal streams, not with viewership.

I mean sure...but there’s illegal streams to NFL games too and NFL ratings are up while NBA ratings have dropped significantly. Either way there are less people watching and it will impact revenue. As for the China deal, that’s fine, it may be more, may not be after the issues, but it’s still not going to be anywhere near the $24.5 billion the US contract is/was. With the rating drops NBA revenue will take a hit when the media companies come to renew their contract to broadcast the games.