2020 NBA Draft

[EricaLubarsky]

It's hard to imagine what will happen with viewership (profits) falling so much.

The biggest losses are nationally televised game viewership, which is fine for the regular season because they're making up the revenue with online/digital/a la carte packages, but now the the playoffs are here which means every game is nationally televised and the numbers are down precipitously (12% year over year) and it's not a one-year trend. We've been falling for four years despite fairly strong profits.

The NBA could try to correct for COVID by doing a future projection, but with four consecutive years of viewership shrinkage, it's hard to paint a rosey picture-- or even know where we're headed.

[KillerLeft]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

It's hard to imagine what will happen with viewership (profits) falling so much.

The biggest losses are nationally televised game viewership, which is fine for the regular season because they're making up the revenue with online/digital/a la carte packages, but now the the playoffs are here which means every game is nationally televised and the numbers are down precipitously (12% year over year) and it's not a one-year trend. We've been falling for four years despite fairly strong profits.

The NBA could try to correct for COVID by doing a future projection, but with four consecutive years of viewership shrinkage, it's hard to paint a rosey picture-- or even know where we're headed.

I agree, that's an issue they're facing. I saw demo percentages the other day, and they were strong, so it seems like this is a result of cord cutting (fewer viewers for anything). I know I'm not paying for cable just to watch sports, when streaming is way more convenient and cheaper (for now).

I gotta think the sports world will figure out how to get over this hurdle, eventually. But yeah, it's currently a problem.