It is easy to believe that America is losing its love for basketball. This is actually not the case. Unfortunately, due to the media, we are being misled into a conclusion that is no reflected in reality.
With the focus upon the NBA and WNBA, we see problematic leagues. The latter has lost money since its inception. This year it had record ratings yet still lost $40 million. This does not make investor, i.e. the NBA, very happy.
This is a league subsidized by NBA owners. Many are now starting to question that investment.
Of course, their league is also suffering. The ratings are an issue, something we will cover here.
Image generated by Grok
The NBA Is Dying
We will resist feeling any pain for the owner's pocketbooks. Adam Silver, according to many, might be the worst commissioner in history. He certainly is the pits when it comes to the major sports right now.
That said, he was fortunate to find a greater fool. According to the theory, no matter how foolish one is, there is always someone who can top it.
Enter the media, specifically Disney. Good ole Bob Iger came to Silver's assistance. Fortunately for him, he was not the only one.
The broadcast networks managed to put together a deal for 11 years, costing $76 billion. This is just under $7 billion per year.
Here, the problem here is the ratings. They are tanking. People are turning off the NBA. As we will see, the finals are a disaster.
It is what lead some to believe basketball is falling out of favor with Americans. Is this really the case?
March Madness
The NCAA college basketball season is winding down. Over the weekend, it had its Final Four. Viewership is up in a big way, throwing some issue with the abovementioned conclusion.
Here is the viewership for each of the games, according to Grok:
Viewership for Each Game:
Houston vs. Duke: This game, which featured Houston's comeback victory over Duke with a close score of 70-67, drew an average of 16 million viewers. It was the most-watched game of the 2025 tournament up to that point and peaked at 20.4 million viewers during the 8:30-8:45 p.m. EST quarter-hour.
Florida vs. Auburn: The earlier game, where Florida defeated Auburn 79-73, averaged 14.6 million viewers (some sources approximate this as 14.3 million based on fast nationals, but 14.6 million aligns with later reports). This was the highest viewership for an early Final Four game since 2017, when Gonzaga vs. South Carolina drew 14.7 million.
This is an average of 15.3 million. That is a healthy turn out for college teams. Of course, in a vacuum, it means little.
So let us compare this to the NBA finals over the last 3 years. These are the numbers that league was able to garner.
- 2022 NBA Finals (Warriors vs. Celtics): 12.4 million viewers per game
- 2023 NBA Finals (Nuggets vs. Heat): 11.64 million viewers per game
- 2024 NBA Finals (Celtics vs. Mavericks): 11.31 million viewers per game
So the viewership for the NBA finals was down. Even worse, it has seen 3 years worth of decline. This is a major problem, especially for the networks that just signed a decade+ deal with the league.
As they say, someone is laughing all the way to the bank.
From a historical perspective, the ratings are bad news for the NBA. Going back to the end of the Michael Jordan era, the ratings look as such:
1997 NBA Finals: Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz
Average Viewership: 25.0 million viewers per game
1998 NBA Finals: Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz
Average Viewership: 29.0 million viewers per game
We see a significant drop off compared to that time. One thing to keep in mind is the population of the US has grown significantly. Hence the NBA is draw about 40% of the viewers with the population growing by about 1/3 (or 80 million people).
It seems people are tuning in for men's college basketball but not the NBA. The appeal for the latter is waning.
That does not mean, however, that it is true for basketball in general.
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There are cycles for everything. Right now the NBA lacks a charismatic superstar. Steph Curry is the closest thing to it and they haven't been what they once were. The Celtics, Cavs, and Thunder all have great teams this year, but again, lack any charisma from a casual viewer point of view. Anthony Edwards has the potential to be the next world-wide superstar, but he's only 23 yrs old. Give it a couple more years and I think you'll see ratings start to pick up again.
Lebron is a great player, but boring. Doncic is amazing to watch, but again, has very little charisma. The whole Eastern Conference is unwatchable unless you have a hometown team. The Knicks are the closest thing to something entertaining and they're borderline.
The other problem is that the stars of the league are becoming developed in the NBA, not prior to getting there. It used to be you could watch the NCAA tourney and watch freshmen, sophomores, juniors improve year over year to the point they were ready to contribute and possibly star in the pros. Now, they're there for maybe one year and then get drafted and sit on the bench for 3 years until by the time they start contributing, nobody remembers who they are. They have no brand, no cachet, and no reason for casual fans to care about them.
It may truly be up to ANT to carry the league back into prominence. Hopefully that means he'll start getting a call or two. :-)
"Interesting perspective! It’s clear the NBA is facing challenges, but the passion for basketball still runs deep. Curious to see how the league adapts in the coming years."
Too much reliance on 3 point shots made the game not as exciting as the Michael Jordan era. Remember when soccer was the most popular global sport (maybe still is) and basketball became popular in Europe because of MJ.
Defense is non existent.
I wouldn't say it's dying, but rather returning to what it was. The NBA has always been a sport by Americans for Americans.
There was a time when MJ managed to break that barrier, and LeBron doesn't have the media appeal that Jordan had worldwide. Kobe was the one who came closest to that marketing, but unfortunately with his death a new gap has opened up in this regard.
It is sad to see the decline of interest in NBA as it used to be a trending sport in the U.S.A.
Finally I saw someone who is thinking in the direction I am thinking. I honestly think the sport needs a revolution as quick as possible
It will be interesting to see what they do. The money is locked in now so the owners and players are making bank. If that holds true, there is little incentive to improve or change things.
Yep, the NBA finals used to be must watch TV. Now I’d rather watch college games, there's obviously way more energy and real competition. The pros are getting a bit too predictable
I believe the love for basketball in America can still be revived back no matter the losses