Why arent there more Nationally Televised NBA Games?

[ooiron manoo]

And one of the facts that some of you don't get is that NBA games draw terrible ratings.

Because it is NOT as popular to the whole country as it is to NikeTalk.
Correct.

The NBA is lagging behind the NFL and MLB.

In reality, local teams draw ratings, but nationally nobody has drawn an audience. The last team to do so was the Lakers from 1999-2004. Once that squad gotbroken up, there hasn't been a team good enough in terms of excitment (The Spurs are great, but they are not popular) to draw ratings. It makes sense totelevise local games, but it doesn't make sense to televise, say Detroit vs. Dallas, because no one (enough to draw a decent rating) outside Detroit orDallas cares about the game. Outside of NT, understandable, the NBA is not popular anymore. The sport of basketball is still popular, but not the NBA.

Even in LA, a place where the NBA has always been popular, the Lakers get ratings (They will always get ratings), but ratings for games on TNT/TBS, ESPN andABC that don't involve the Lakers have been dipping since Jordan retired.

It's a sad reality.

Money talks, and for TNT it makes more business sense to run a syndicated tv show (Ex: Seinfeld, Friends) than it is to run a nationally teleivised game.

 

[dmbrhs]

Originally Posted by Air273

i think there are more games on TV now then 10 years ago

It's probably about even. There are more weekday games (six per week, starting from opening night), and once the Sunday broadcasts start, it can be 7 or8 games per week. Ten years ago, even with a Sunday triple header on NBC, you were still looking at only 7 or 8 games, max, per week.

 

[rap sizzle]

this is why I wished I ended up studying in Toronto. RaptorsTV is

 

[presequel]

sunday triple headers were not until the new year

its like everyone forgot

 

[Shanegerous]

I wouldnt mind more games either.

 

[zoomlito]

BECAUSE THE NBA IS TRASH, AND HAS BEEN SINCE THE LAST LAKERS DYNASTY ENDED AFTER 02

 

[bullsrepeat3peat]

zoomlito:

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BECAUSE THE NBA IS TRASH, AND HAS BEEN SINCE THE LAST LAKERS DYNASTY ENDED AFTER 02

yup........i agree.....although I thought 2004 would be somewhat good with the Lakers and Timberwolves, but once the Lakers lost to Detroit I knew the NBAwas done for a while.....especially after watching Spurs/Pistons in the Finals......

 

[bigtomdawg]

because football season is not over yet

 

[dajoka004]

I can't stomach an NBA game unless it's deep in the playoffs. I'll watch any college basketball team play at any time.

 

[chikickz]

The main problem is the NBA's contract with the Disney Corporation. ESPN/ABC and TNT share the roles of nationally televised NBA games. ESPN has far toomany other things going on to give the NBA a consistent national tv audience until after college football. The Wed/Fri doubleheaders don't start untilJanuary.

I have no idea why the NBA doesn't have a Monday Night Basketball game that starts once the NFL MNF schedule ends.

 

[craftsy21]

I have no idea why the NBA doesn't have a Monday Night Basketball game that starts once the NFL MNF schedule ends.
Because nobody wants to show it at a national level... trust, the NBA would be on every night nationally if they could find somebody willing topay the right price for it.. But it's not profitable for the networks, and therefore, they wont pay the price to put the games on.

The NBA is a weak product in most markets - even the playoffs don't do very well, that's why they're mainly on TNT... think about it, if the NBAwere such a great draw, why wouldn't fox or CBS try to get ahold of the playoffs like they do for the NFL, the biggest draw of them all?