The topic of the NBA’s ratings declining over the past few years has been talked about by sports analysts all over the country. According to Sports Media Watch, the NBA’s ratings have dropped around 19% on major streaming platforms like ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBC. On top of that, NBA viewership has declined about 7% since the 2016-2017 season. But why is this happening?
Within the past couple of years, some reasons seem to stick out and get talked about more than others. Damon Holbrook, a Pentucket Varsity Basketball player, said: “The three-point shooting has reached an all-time high, which upsets me. Teams have begun shooting, what, 30+ threes a game? It makes the games hard to watch because it’s the same thing every game.” According to Basketball Reference, the league has reached an all-time high in three-pointers attempted (3PA) per game, at 37.4. This has gone up roughly 6% in the past year, and up roughly 10 3PA per game since the 2016-2017 season, or about 38.5%.
In addition to this, officiating in the NBA has gone under scrutiny from fans and other players within the last few years. This is mainly voiced by players and fans due to the inconsistency and game-altering mistakes that the referees have made time and time again. Gavin Jalbert, another Pentucket Varsity Basketball player, says: “The officiating is very inconsistent. It can cost teams games, and players can be fined for these fouls if the league determines so.” This foul-calling inconsistency is highlighted mostly by absurd technical fouls being called on players for no apparent reason, an example being Celtics’ Basketball player Jayson Tatum getting one called on him for a single loud clap at himself. This is a huge problem, and it needs to be addressed in order for the league’s ratings to stay afloat.
The world of social media has also impacted the way fans watch basketball all over the world. Lots of different platforms, such as X, formerly Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and other different sports apps have been major viewpoints for the NBA, which is another contributing factor to the ratings decline. On this, Holbrook said “I use these apps regularly, and there is a lot more coverage on media apps. I prefer social media ‘cause it’s easier to use, and you can use it without needing to sit down to watch TV.” This is evidently why social media coverage contributes to the dropping of the NBA’s ratings.
The term “load management” has been connected to the NBA in its most recent years as a reason for the down in ratings. “Load management” refers to players sitting out due to increased fatigue, particularly in star players. Some notable players that do this are Los Angeles Clippers’ star Kawhi Leonard, Philadelphia 76ers’ star Joel Embiid, and newly signed Clippers’ player Ben Simmons. The sitting out of players makes fans not want to watch the games, because they won’t be able to see their favorite player.
Additionally, the political and economic state of the world right now has been a topic that NBA players have voiced their opinions on throughout the years. While people voicing their opinions is okay, fans do not enjoy watching a player who makes their views all of their personality. The league’s participation in this matter makes some fans tune out the games because all they want to see is some good basketball.
Other sports are also becoming more and more popular, while basketball seems to be dying out slowly. The NFL has been America’s sport for so many years, and they keep on playing more games internationally that it allows other countries to watch it. The MLB is also becoming more and more popular, with popular players such as Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, and Elly De La Cruz being international players who are bringing more and more non-American countries into the MLB’s atmosphere. Overall, the NFL and MLB have been able to compete internationally, while the NBA simply cannot.
Another contributing factor to this is the NBA All-Star Weekend. This 3-day event, taking place on the 3rd Sunday in February, was one of the most popular All-Star games of the 4 Major American Sports. The most popular of the events that took place was the NBA All-Star Game, which had 2 teams of 12 players, each from the Western and Eastern conferences, who were voted the best based on fan, coach, and media voting. Fans don’t enjoy these games anymore simply because the players do not try at all in them, and it makes for a very boring watch.
It is sad to see the NBA becoming less and less popular as the years go on. There are some ways to fix it, however it seems that the sport is slowly becoming less and less popular. The NBA can’t compete with the ever growing international markets of other American sports, and it really makes people ask themselves if the NBA is dying.
