NBA doing what NFL can't, ratings keep going up despite bad games
It’s hardly a secret that the NBA’s conference finals games have lacked a certain competitiveness.
Conference Finals Margin of Victory
Cavs vs. Celtics
Game 1: Boston wins by 25
Game 2: Boston wins by 13
Game 3: Cleveland wins by 30Warriors vs. Rockets
Game 1: Golden State wins by 13
Game 2: Houston wins by 22
Game 3: Golden State wins by 41— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) May 21, 2018
The closest margin of victory now stands at nine points, after the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics 111-102 on Monday. Even that margin belies just how lopsided the game was, considering that Cleveland led by at least seven points for about the final 40 minutes.
Understandably, fans have been less than enthused with the one-sided blowouts. Yet, despite all the online hand-wringing over the anti-climatic nature of these games, a strange truth has emerged.
From all indications, the NBA playoff ratings seem utterly immune to blowouts.
Think about that for a minute. Super Bowl LII featured historic offensive numbers between two very popular teams in what would turn out to be a one-score game. Yet the ratings fell a stark 3 percent compared to Super Bowl LI.
Contrast that to what’s going on in professional basketball. It’s not even the NBA Finals yet and ratings are steadily trickling up.
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets was a romp for the road team, as the Warriors blitzed the Rockets 119-106. Despite the outcome being all but decided at the start of the fourth quarter, that game was TNT’s highest-rated Western Conference Finals Game 1 ever, according to The Washington Post.
In fact, over the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, ratings went up 16 percent compared to last year.
The Eastern Conference Finals, admittedly featuring far less starpower, have enjoyed similar ratings bumps. The Celtics’ 107-94 win over the Cavaliers in Game 2 saw a whopping 71 percent increase from the same game last year. Of note, the Celtics are without All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.
Perhaps the most surprising thing to emerge from the NBA’s ratings boon has been the inexplicable nature of the bump. At first glance, the NBA suffers from the same issues that the NFL does.
While no NBA players have knelt or protested during the national anthem, the league’s most visible stars and coaches — like LeBron James, Gregg Popovich and Steph Curry — have been very vocal about their political viewpoints.
Just like the NFL, there’s arguably an over-saturation of the NBA on television. Monday nights feature TNT’s “Player’s Only” broadcast, typically showcasing two games. ESPN likes to air NBA games on Wednesday nights. Then, TNT is back at it on Thursday nights with their traditional two-game broadcasts. ESPN follows that up with prime-time games on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. That leaves Tuesday as the lone day that the NBA isn’t typically on cable television.
All that being said, the ways in which the NBA has differentiated itself from the NFL could be key too.
The NBA has always accentuated its stars, from Larry Bird and Magic Johnson to Michael Jordan to LeBron James. Just by virtue of the fact they aren’t obscured by face masks makes a big difference. The common NFL fan probably wouldn’t recognize LeGarrette Blount if they saw him in a store, despite the fact that he’s won the last two Super Bowls. Even a common NBA fan would recognize Kyle Korver in a store.
The NBA is also a brisker game. To generalize, the average NFL game lasts a little over three hours. The average NBA game lasts about two-and-a half hours.
This all lends itself to the biggest advantage the NBA has over the NFL — the youth of its fans and social media. The NBA has a stranglehold on the coveted younger audience, per Yahoo Sports, which means that this ratings boon could last.
And also unlike the NFL, the NBA actually encourages its teams and partners to post exciting plays and moments all over social media. The NFL has always been stringently against that, preferring game highlights to come almost exclusively from just the NFL.
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