Why Are NBA Ratings Down?

Author

Bubba
17 Dec

Fox Sports pundit Colin Cowherd said last week the NBA’s declining ratings, down 48% since 2012, are a result of the league losing touch with average Americans.

Cowherd:

Go ask the Democrats. Be warned, once you detach from regular people in America, you will pay a price.

Is “wokeness” driving fans away? Conservatives like former Fox Sports host Clay Travis have accused the NBA of “embracing woke, political, far-left-wing messaging in its games.”

  • Most recently, much of the cultural controversy has been focused on the NBA’s women’s counterpart, the WNBA, and rookie sensation Caitlin Clark.

  • During an interview with Time, Clark, who’s been named the magazine’s “Athlete of the Year,” highlighted her “white privilege” and said it was important for the league to “elevate black women.”

  • Clark’s appearance on Time’s cover has sparked some backlash, with Washington Mystics co-owner Sheila Johnson suggesting the “entire WNBA” should have been put on the cover to alleviate potential racial tensions.

Is it the meta? Many observers, including NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, have theorized that the strategic shift in the way the game is played has turned off NBA viewers.

  • An analytics-rooted emphasis on three-point shooting — teams are averaging 37 three-point attempts per game this season — has led to most, if not all, teams adopting extremely similar play styles.

  • “Everybody’s running the same plays. … I don’t mind Golden State back in the day shooting threes, but every team is not a three-point shooter,” O’Neal said last month.