Despite the high quality of basketball we have seen at this year’s NBA bubble, it has not led to more people being drawn to it. The Finals are seeing an all-time low in TV viewers.
Advertisement
There are many factors at play here. First of all, many NBA fans today are streaming the game rather than watching it on the telly.
Secondly, the lack of fans in the arena has made for an inferior viewing experience overall. Thirdly, the Miami Heat are the most ‘unfancied’ team to make it to this stage in well over a decade.
Why have TV ratings seen such a dramatic decline?
Game 1 of the NBA Finals saw only 7.1 million viewers, which is the lowest figure for any Finals Game 1 this century. Games 2 & 3, which came on traditionally bad days for ratings, saw an abyssal fall in ratings as well.
Only 6.4 million and 5.9 million viewers respectively tuned into these games.
It’s not just the NBA which has seen a decline in viewership either.
While the NBA’s social justice stance, and its promotion of BLM may have had some effect, there are clear signs that people are just disinterested in sports these days.
It is something to be concerned about for the league, but one can expect that this is a temporary change of status.
