6 ms·

Fine, I'll bite: why is this an issue and why does it need to be addressed?

by GenerWork 2y ago

polski-g 2y ago
Some people claim it makes the game more boring to watch and might drive down viewership.
- bdangubic 2y ago
  it is not some people claim though, viewership is down and getting worse so much so that NBA is doing crazy shit like in-season tournaments and silly pick up games shit for All Star ( https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format )… the league and game itself are a shadow of their former self and main culprit lies in the fact that today’s game is just chuckers chucking 3’s
  - 1659447091 2y ago
    > viewership is down and getting worse so much so that NBA is doing crazy shit That's surprising to see as the WNBA is steadily growing and had a large jump this year--supposedly due to Caitlin Clark Effect[0] (a generational player). But they had been growing viewership steadily before that. I don't really care for basketball in any form, too many points, but I would catch headlines on espn & other sports channels and the WNBA was taking up a lot of real estate in the top headlines this year and before that it was usually about another attendance or viewing record. Curious what they are doing different than the Men's game? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark_effect
    - bdangubic 2y ago
      WNBA has a bonafide star for the first time ever - a full-on household name! my daughter who isn’t even a basketball fan made me get tickets when she played the Mystics. If she sticks with playing in Europe WNBA ratings next year will be comparable to synchronized swimming at the Olympics (I hope this doesn’t happen and WNBA can build of this momentum).
bdangubic 2y ago
- NBA has become unwatchable - not my opinion, the ratings are down through and through - Christmas used to be owned by NBA, this time only 12% of sports fans watched the game. NFL has two games on Netflix that killed all hopes of decent viewership - that analytics have caught up that 3-pt is not a little more than 2-pt, it is 50 (FIFTY) percent more - the entire game has now become chuck 3’s for 48 minutes (I am more than casual NBA fan and I tried watching a local game few days ago, LaMelo Ball shot 10 3’s… IN THE FIRST QUARTER) NBA needs to figure this shit out and faaaaaast as even someone like me who generally watches 50+ games per year before playoffs on TV and dozen or so in person is losing interest in the product
- HelloMcFly 2y ago
  > NBA has become unwatchable... not my opinion, the ratings are down through and through First of all, this is clearly an opinion. It isn't debatable that the ratings are down, but since the ratings are down for all broadcast and cable TV broadly it isn't that damning of NBA specifically, and certainly isn't a strong supporting fact that NBA games themselves are "unwatchable". > Christmas used to be owned by NBA, this time only 12% of sports fans watched the game The NBA can't compete with the NFL on ratings, and it's a fool's errand to make that the standard. The NFL is the ratings juggernaut in America, nothing compares to it. The NBA's viewership numbers for Christmas saw a substantial increase this year with the highest viewership since 2019. A big issue has been how hard it can be for many fans to watch their own team's home games due to regional sports networks and blackout rules for cable, or high expense for a standalone streaming network. Whether the new broadcast deal helps or hurts this remains to be seen - I think splitting the games up across so many services is going to have a continued negative effect even if it's very lucrative for the league. That said, I can't argue with your lived experience. I do think the idea that every time plays the same way is out-and-out preposterous, but I think the bigger issue is a) an overall soft whistle has made it hard to play defense esp on three-point shooting and b) refs are inconsistent at best, arbitrary at median, and petty at worst.
  - xhkkffbf 2y ago
    I think the poster was saying, "This isn't just my own, lone opinion. Many others seem to feel the same way." And that becomes a problem for the business, despite your own stat about the Christmas numbers.
fnqi8ckfek 2y ago
[dead]

Fine, I'll bite: why is this an issue and why does it need to be addressed?

polski-g 2y ago

Some people claim it makes the game more boring to watch and might drive down viewership.

bdangubic 2y ago
it is not some people claim though, viewership is down and getting worse so much so that NBA is doing crazy shit like in-season tournaments and silly pick up games shit for All Star ( https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format )… the league and game itself are a shadow of their former self and main culprit lies in the fact that today’s game is just chuckers chucking 3’s
- 1659447091 2y ago
  > viewership is down and getting worse so much so that NBA is doing crazy shit That's surprising to see as the WNBA is steadily growing and had a large jump this year--supposedly due to Caitlin Clark Effect[0] (a generational player). But they had been growing viewership steadily before that. I don't really care for basketball in any form, too many points, but I would catch headlines on espn & other sports channels and the WNBA was taking up a lot of real estate in the top headlines this year and before that it was usually about another attendance or viewing record. Curious what they are doing different than the Men's game? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark_effect
  - bdangubic 2y ago
    WNBA has a bonafide star for the first time ever - a full-on household name! my daughter who isn’t even a basketball fan made me get tickets when she played the Mystics. If she sticks with playing in Europe WNBA ratings next year will be comparable to synchronized swimming at the Olympics (I hope this doesn’t happen and WNBA can build of this momentum).

bdangubic 2y ago

- NBA has become unwatchable - not my opinion, the ratings are down through and through - Christmas used to be owned by NBA, this time only 12% of sports fans watched the game. NFL has two games on Netflix that killed all hopes of decent viewership - that analytics have caught up that 3-pt is not a little more than 2-pt, it is 50 (FIFTY) percent more - the entire game has now become chuck 3’s for 48 minutes (I am more than casual NBA fan and I tried watching a local game few days ago, LaMelo Ball shot 10 3’s… IN THE FIRST QUARTER) NBA needs to figure this shit out and faaaaaast as even someone like me who generally watches 50+ games per year before playoffs on TV and dozen or so in person is losing interest in the product

HelloMcFly 2y ago
> NBA has become unwatchable... not my opinion, the ratings are down through and through First of all, this is clearly an opinion. It isn't debatable that the ratings are down, but since the ratings are down for all broadcast and cable TV broadly it isn't that damning of NBA specifically, and certainly isn't a strong supporting fact that NBA games themselves are "unwatchable". > Christmas used to be owned by NBA, this time only 12% of sports fans watched the game The NBA can't compete with the NFL on ratings, and it's a fool's errand to make that the standard. The NFL is the ratings juggernaut in America, nothing compares to it. The NBA's viewership numbers for Christmas saw a substantial increase this year with the highest viewership since 2019. A big issue has been how hard it can be for many fans to watch their own team's home games due to regional sports networks and blackout rules for cable, or high expense for a standalone streaming network. Whether the new broadcast deal helps or hurts this remains to be seen - I think splitting the games up across so many services is going to have a continued negative effect even if it's very lucrative for the league. That said, I can't argue with your lived experience. I do think the idea that every time plays the same way is out-and-out preposterous, but I think the bigger issue is a) an overall soft whistle has made it hard to play defense esp on three-point shooting and b) refs are inconsistent at best, arbitrary at median, and petty at worst.
- xhkkffbf 2y ago
  I think the poster was saying, "This isn't just my own, lone opinion. Many others seem to feel the same way." And that becomes a problem for the business, despite your own stat about the Christmas numbers.

fnqi8ckfek 2y ago

[dead]