Commissioner Adam Silver has suggested unique events such as the World Series and the presidential election have skewed recent low NBA ratings, much to the dismay of disgruntled fans who claim he is ignoring the root causes.
Adam Silver Blames Low NBA Ratings on Presidential Election and World Series
In a recent interview, NBA commissioner Adam Silver described the league’s recent low ratings as a by-product of “unique things.”
Despite criticism over an over-saturation of games, rising subscription costs and even suggestions that the style of play in the NBA has become “boring,” Silver remained resolute in his examination.
Speaking to Cheddar, Silver said: “I think we’re just looking at a couple weeks of ratings, there’s always some unique things, this year we were up against a World Series.
“You had a presidential election that was commanding an enormous amount of attention. So I don’t think it has anything whatsoever to do with the style of play on the floor.”
NBA Viewership is on the Decline
The NBA’s declining viewership has been well-documented in recent years, but since the season’s start date in October the numbers appear to be in free-fall comparative to recent campaigns.
For context, here are some of the most glaring numbers from the viewership data, as per Awful Announcing:
- ESPN’s Opening Doubleheader: Averaged 1.6 million viewers, down 42% from 2023.
- Bucks vs. 76ers: 1.71 million viewers (down from 2.55 million for Celtics vs. Knicks in 2023)
- Suns vs. Clippers: 1.52 million viewers, down 49% from last year’s repeat game.
- TNT’s Thursday Game (Spurs vs. Mavericks): 1.45 million viewers, a 29% decrease from the previous year’s comparable game.
- ESPN’s Friday Game (Pacers vs. Knicks): 830,000 viewers, fewer than a college football game on ESPN2
- NBA lost out to NFL Christmas Day viewing figures for a fourth straight year in 2023
Why is NBA Viewership Declining?
Contrary to Adam Silver‘s empty remarks – which ignore the fact the World Series finished before Halloween and the election only ramps up viewers on voting day – there are some ugly truths about the NBA which he is choosing to ignore.
Rising Costs of TV Subscriptions
Adam Silver’s recent comments where met with a wave of criticism from NBA viewers, who were quick to point out many fans had been priced out of watching the league on a regular basis.
At $14.99 per-month for the NBA League Pass, watchers at home are now forced to pay near-enough $180 per-year to catch the action. This is marked increase of $2 per-month on last season – although negligible, loyal fans remain unhappy over rising subscription costs.
Or maybe it’s because we have to sacrifice a whole limb to be able to watch every nba game cuz of the bullshit streaming prices
— TatumsWrld (@wrldoftatum) November 19, 2024
NBA’s Style of Play and Load Management
It is also interesting to note that Adam Silver’s comments came off the back of recent criticism of on-court action, which has been labelled as “boring” by four-time champion Shaquille O’Neal.
The 2000 MVP has accused the majority of teams in the NBA of having similar strategies when it comes to shooting threes, and believes the dependence from beyond the arc is ruining
“We’re looking at the same thing,” O’Neal said on his podcast.
“Everybody is running the same plays. And [the Warriors] messed it up. I don’t mind Golden State back in the day shooting threes, but every team isn’t a three-point shooter. So why everybody have the same strategy? I think it makes the game boring.”
There is also the old-age debate over just how long the NBA season is. Maintaining widespread interest throughout the campaign is always going to be a difficult task, particularly given the sheer weight of games and the NBA Finals not starting until April.
