Over recent years, NBA viewership has seen a significant decline.
For instance, the 2024 NBA Finals averaged 11.3 million viewers, down from 11.64 million the prior year. Even in 2018, when the Cavs were no match against the star-studded Warriors, the viewership average was 17.65 million. Below, we explore three main causes of this decline and potential solutions.
Bad Promotion
With LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant on their way out of the league, the NBA needs to find that next “face of the league.” The NBA has struggled to market young superstars like Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, or even Nikola Jokić to casual fans.
But you can’t pin all the blame on the NBA. When players like Lonzo Ball, Zion Williamson, and Ben Simmons don’t pan out to be the superstars the NBA marketed them to be, that also plays a factor.
The NBA needs to market its young stars better than they currently do. There should be no reason why Paolo Banchero and the Magic have nine televised games. He is averaging 29.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game on a fourth-seeded Orlando Magic team. Additionally, when other stars come out of college, such as Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, and Ace Bailey, the NBA must market them to the casual viewer.
There are also no “storylines” or “rivalries” to make people want to tune into basketball. Players should be able to go at each other 100% without being afraid to get a tech and jeopardize winning that game. Which leads to:
Controversial Officiating
Referees are human and won’t get 100% of the calls correct. However, when it comes to players showing emotion, they need to let the players play. When referees give out technical fouls for showing passion and emotion for basketball, it removes all the excitement and intensity of games fans love.
Nikola Jokic got ejected for talking to a ref, Cade Cunningham got ejected for taunting after a poster dunk, and Ja Morant got ejected for getting frustrated after he was hit with a bad call.
Even coaches are fed up with the way the game is being officiated. Taylor Jenkins, Darko Rajakovic, and Steve Kerr are a few coaches who are vocal about today’s officiating.
Remember when a rookie Jayson Tatum dunked on LeBron James and bumped him afterward? In today’s NBA, doing something like that might lead to an ejection. Officials should allow more freedom for staredowns after a big dunk and understand where players are coming from after a bad call against them instead of hitting them with a technical foul.
The NBA is their job, after all.
Illegal Streaming
It’s a hassle for fans to watch games.
We have to get cable for the marquee games on ESPN and TNT and purchase an NBA League Pass to watch other games. The biggest issue with the League Pass is that you cannot watch teams in your region, making it even harder to watch games. The global sports industry is losing up to $28 billion from fans illegally streaming games.
The NBA is losing viewers and money because it is difficult to watch games. They should bundle games on fewer platforms or a single streaming service with broad accessibility. Making more games on cable could also recapture casual viewers’ attention while reducing the chances of illegal streaming.
With icons like LeBron, Steph, and KD nearing retirement, the NBA risks digging a deeper hole than it already is in. The league must aggressively promote the next generation of stars, simplify access for fans, and enhance the viewing experience.
Failure to do so could result in major consequences the NBA has never seen.
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