SoCalPatrick
Member
I know a lot of you guys don't follow the NBA, but Lebron walking off the court before time expired says a lot about that guy.
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Game 1 of the Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat brought in only 7.41 million viewers to ABC, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That is reportedly the lowest viewership seen for the Finals since at least 1994, when total viewers began to be regularly recorded.
The number is down 45 percent from last year’s Game 1 between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, which had 13.51 million viewers. This is the fourth straight year Game 1 viewership has gone down compared to the previous season.
Why are the NBA’s ratings down?
News of the NBA’s ratings struggles will undoubtedly be received with glee from President Donald Trump, who has previously attributed the league’s lagging viewership to its protests against racial injustice.
Political polarization could very well play a part in the dip, but there are likely several reasons behind the NBA’s decline. The league’s young viewership has been increasingly cutting the cord for years, often consuming games through streaming and highlights on social media. This season has been something of a surreal experience, and the four-month interruption in play could have turned off some casual viewers. Sports fans have been facing a highly truncated sports landscape in the last few months, with several spring and summer events moved to fall. This year’s Finals is seen as a fairly lopsided matchup, and the Lakers didn’t need long to show it.
The NBA certainly isn’t happy its ratings are down, especially in a series featuring the Lakers, but there are still reasons for optimism for the future of the league, as well as its competitors.
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Game 1 of the Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat brought in only 7.41 million viewers to ABC, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That is reportedly the lowest viewership seen for the Finals since at least 1994, when total viewers began to be regularly recorded.
The number is down 45 percent from last year’s Game 1 between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, which had 13.51 million viewers. This is the fourth straight year Game 1 viewership has gone down compared to the previous season.
Why are the NBA’s ratings down?
News of the NBA’s ratings struggles will undoubtedly be received with glee from President Donald Trump, who has previously attributed the league’s lagging viewership to its protests against racial injustice.
Political polarization could very well play a part in the dip, but there are likely several reasons behind the NBA’s decline. The league’s young viewership has been increasingly cutting the cord for years, often consuming games through streaming and highlights on social media. This season has been something of a surreal experience, and the four-month interruption in play could have turned off some casual viewers. Sports fans have been facing a highly truncated sports landscape in the last few months, with several spring and summer events moved to fall. This year’s Finals is seen as a fairly lopsided matchup, and the Lakers didn’t need long to show it.
The NBA certainly isn’t happy its ratings are down, especially in a series featuring the Lakers, but there are still reasons for optimism for the future of the league, as well as its competitors.
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