data-mm-id=”_lhd21lwac”>NBA ratings are up 34 percent this year. Or so the league says. The NBA PR team released Nielsen ratings for this season compared to the opening stretch of last year's games and things are looking up. Per Forbes: “NBA viewership for nationally televised broadcasts on TNT, ESPN and ABC through the Martin Luther King Jr. Day tripleheader is up 34% over the comparable 27-game period from last season, an average of 2.0 million per game versus 1.49 million, according to Nielsen Media Research data released by the league on Thursday.”As Andrew Marchand helpfully notes, however, this number is a bit misleading. Attention NBA/media reporters: Before you parrot the national NBA ratings release that says they are way up.The comparison NBA PR is making includes the Christmas ratings this year, but not last year because of shift in schedule.In other words, they are not accurate.— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) January 21, 2021So the numbers aren't as high as that 34 percent would indicate. Given that more people watched basketball on Christmas this year than last, including this Christmas but not last makes a rather substantial difference. Marchand goes on to note that if you exclude Christmas this year in the interest of fairness, viewership is only up eight percent. If you exclude the Christmas games, then I'm told the first 24 national NBA games are up 8 percent compared to last year as opposed to the 32 percent the release touted.I would have included both numbers and explanation in the initial release.— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) January 21, 2021Not quite as high as that impressive 34 percent number. But it is still a surprise that those numbers are positive at all. Sports ratings and viewership has been down across the board for everyone during the coronavirus pandemic, even the lumbering titan of the industry that is the NFL. There are all sorts of reasons for this (social justice initiatives are not one of them), and some sports have been affected more than others, but the fact that all the ratings are down has been the constant since this past summer. Yet here the NBA is, getting into the green. It's even more surprising given viewership for the 2020 NBA Finals was down by over 50 percent compared to the previous year's event, and that happened less than six months ago. And there is no tangible or discernible reason why! It would have made sense if viewership for the 2020-21 season were equal to or lower than the 2019-20 season through 27 games. At this time last year, COVID-19 was just a dot on the horizon most Americans weren't aware of and the presidential election cycle was just starting to really get going. There was some controversy around the China-Daryl Morey situation, but otherwise, the ratings didn't fluctuate too much in one direction or the other.Compare that to this year, where we are still deep in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, which has generally meant worse ratings for sports across the board. The election was technically over before the NBA season began on December 22 but there were a lot of people pretending it wasn't, which drew eyeballs from ESPN to CNN or NBC or FOX. Also, some stuff happened at the Capitol two weeks ago that made sports seem pretty insignificant. Despite all… this, the NBA is recording improved viewership. The return of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, two of the biggest names in the game, certainly helps matters. James Harden has provided that coveted drama early in the season that makes fans murmur "this league" while consuming all the NBA content they can find. Most of the biggest markets (New York, Los Angeles, Miami) have great teams right now. It's a good recipe for a ratings stew that TV execs will find scrumptious. But juxtaposed next to everything else that's going on, it doesn't make sense that the numbers are improved. But maybe that's the secret. None of this really makes any sense at all. People are whimsical and do not fit as neatly into boxes as the numbers would prefer. Maybe over the next 27 games everything will even out as folks decide to simply not watch basketball a few days a week. Or the numbers could skyrocket. Who knows? Nobody really does. Ratings are an enigma that has no tried-and-true formula to understand. Other than the fact that everyone watches football, of course.
Related Posts
Best odds: 7/4
Bookmaker:
Having seen their long success streak halted during the group stage, Portugal will look to reaffirm their status as Euro 2024 contenders when they face Slovenia on Monday evening.
Conversely, Slovenia, entering uncharted territory in their inaugural knockout match at a major tournament, will compete in Frankfurt for a chance to face either France or Belgium in the quarterfinals.
Portugal
Despite clinching the top spot in Group F with a game to spare, Portugal s surprising loss to underdogs Georgia on Wednesday night cast a shadow over their otherwise strong Euro 2024 campaign.
Errors by Benfica centre-back Antonio Silva allowed the Georgians to score twice with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia netting a spectacular opener in the s…
Eder was Portugal s unlikely hero as his extra-time goal sealed a first major international honour for his country at the expense of Euro 2016 hosts France.
France dominated for much of the game, against a Portugal side shorn of talismanic captain Cristiano Ronaldo after he sustained a knee injury in the first half.
Tournament top scorer Antoine Griezmann headed over before substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac hit the post in stoppage time.
And Eder stepped up in the second period of extra time, holding off Laurent Koscielny before finding the bottom corner from 25 yards.
…
Cristiano Ronaldo lives for goals and will soon find a return to form after a prolonged struggle for Portugal, says veteran team-mate Pepe.
The five-time Ballon d Or winner is yet to find the net at Euro 2024, failing to score in Portugal s first three Group F games as Roberto Martinez s side topped their pool.
Stretching further back, Ronaldo has not scored in any of his last seven appearances for Portugal at major tournaments, his longest such drought across the European Championship and World Cup.
The 39-year-old has had 19 shots across the two competitions since last scoring against Ghana at the 2022 World Cup.
However, Pepe – speaking ahead of the last-16 meeting with Slovenia on Monday – believes his team-mate will soon find his scoring touch.<…
Applications from 128 countries for 216,975 WC2010 tickets were received Saturday via the FIFA website 24 hours after the online tickets went on sale across the globe, FIFA officials said.
The figure excludes hard paper applications handed in by South African residents at the branches of a designated local bank, FIFA said in a statement.
The biggest number of orders came from South Africa, the host, followed by Britain, the United States, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and Argentina.
These are fantastic numbers, underlying yet again the fervour taking hold around the world for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first on the African continent, David Will, chairman of the FIFA ticketing sub-committee, said.…
David Luiz emerged as a surprise signing for Arsenal as the Gunners completed a busy transfer window by adding a centre-back.
Not many Premier League teams were as active as Unai Emery s men, with Dani Ceballos, Nicolas Pepe and Kieran Tierney also arriving.
Chelsea s transfer ban hampered new boss Frank Lampard, who will need to lean on the younger players in his squad during the coming season.
Losing a trusty lieutenant like David Luiz to a rival in the battle for a top-four finish is hardly ideal and means there will be some last-minute tinkering needed from Chelsea legend Lampard.
Below we analyse how both teams may line up in 2019-20.
ARSENAL
4-3-3: Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Kieran Tierney; L…
Julen Lopetegui says he expects to be under pressure after West Ham s recent struggles at home but hopes to put that right against Ipswich Town.
West Ham have won just one of their six Premier League matches so far, away to Crystal Palace, but have lost all three of their home fixtures, conceding eight goals and scoring twice.
Having failed to win any of their last four in the league, along with a heavy 5-1 defeat to Liverpool in the EFL Cup before last week s draw at Brentford, Lopetegui is coming under a little pressure already.
However, the Spaniard is not fazed by that, explaining his team are working hard to change their fortunes at the London Stadium.
Always it s very important to win, and that s why we work hard every day. We want to win for sure,…
This game sees A stuttering Chelsea side looking to put their recent troubles behind them and continue their march to premierleague glory against as stubborn Stoke team who now realistically have nothing to play for.
Chelsea looked to be a good length or two ahead until they inexplicably lost to a scintillating Tottenham side last Week and Manchester United won their game to bring them back to just one point behind the leaders. With Chelsea having a couple of tricky games coming up, they will view this match as a must win situation, and I can see that causing them some problems with nerves when they are so close to the summit. Considering that we are so late in the season the Chelsea squad looks strong, but there is one very notable absence. After two bookable offences in his m…
Try as they might, AC Milan simply cannot find the right way to return to the top of Italian football. Following the 5-0 defeat away to Atalanta in their last game of 2019, the seven-time European champions now find themselves in the bottom half of the Serie A table, with only 21 points from 17 games.
…
After 2,709 days, Gareth Bale is a Premier League player again.
The Wales star came off the bench in Tottenham s clash with West Ham on Sunday for his first appearance since rejoining on loan from Real Madrid.
He replaced Steven Bergwijn in the 72nd minute, with Tottenham leading 3-0 at the time thanks to two early goals from Harry Kane and a first-minute strike from Son Heung-min.
Bale was straight into the action, having a shot saved almost immediately after his introduction, but West Ham dramatically fought back late on to earn a 3-3 draw.
7 Gareth Bale is making his first Premier League appearance for Tottenham since May 2013, seven years and 152 days ago – it’s the longest gap between appearances for a Tottenham player in the competition’s hist…
Both teams are on bad runs, and on Sunday we’ll see one of them break its losing streak. The Broncos are hosts and have lost four in a row after winning its first three games of the season. Meanwhile, their guests, the Washington Football Team, are losers of three in a row.
Both sides will be hoping that breaking their losing runs could reinvigorate their season, but who will secure the win? Don’t miss our NFL picks and predictions for the Washington Football Team vs. Denver Broncos.
…