Unfortunately BLM hurt the NBA Ratings

[Walk on Water]

Part of it is there were no good teams in the Finals this year and so nobody cared. At least no interesting stars like a Michael Jordan to attract the viewers. Part of it is covid, but then at the same time people were at home and wanted sports back. But part of it is BLM and all the kneeling. The NBA has dropped ratings worse than ever. The NBA turned into a political platform, but people were more interested in just following politics through other platforms than viewing it through a sports game. They simply lost interest. You can't blame it all on covid, although that's a factor. There's other things going on.

[bobopenguin]

Part of it is there were no good teams in the Finals this year and so nobody cared. At least no interesting stars like a Michael Jordan to attract the viewers. Part of it is covid, but then at the same time people were at home and wanted sports back. But part of it is BLM and all the kneeling. The NBA has dropped ratings worse than ever. The NBA turned into a political platform, but people were more interested in just following politics through other platforms than viewing it through a sports game. They simply lost interest. You can't blame it all on covid, although that's a factor. There's other things going on.

ppl wasnt at home, they were outside busy looting free shit, taunting each other, pretending to be a sjw, uploading their participation in protest to their IG to prove they were part of trend, like that #metoo, #savewhale #stopeatingdog movement.

[Rocket]

Of course BLM hurt ratings. People do not turn to sports to have political bullshit rammed down their throats. BLM is a really a Marxist movement packaged in the shiny colors of "racial equality". Racial equality is not the true goal rather a means to the ends.

[Gruppenführer]

I would say fortunately it hurt their ratings. That way they know never to mix politics or social justice in with sports ever again.


Does not matter what side of the political spectrum you are on, when you change the channel from a news network to a sports one, and then see the same things.....yeah, not good lol. #SayTheirName doe! More like....NO.

[bladefd]

Yes, I am sure it hurt nba ratings, but it's hard to figure out how much exactly. Lack of crowds was also another reason, which takes away from the fun. Casual fans care about crowds being loud and present.

[Nanners]

Shocking that americans dont want to be lectured about justice and morality by a bunch of privileged millionaires who bounce a ball for a living

[Cleverness]

what's wrong with fighting for EQUALITY?

[Nanners]

The China hypocrisy is not helping the NBA either IMO

It takes an absurd level of delusion and narcissism to pretend that you're some kind of social justice champion when you have a $1 BILLION contract to sell apparel made by slaves in chinese concentration camps.

[Axe]

They're not being so sincere after all.

[west_tip]

I only caught the tail end of the Lakers-Blazers game 1 because I was having dinner at a bar and it was on. Other than than did not watch a single second of the NBA bubble and I can't say that I missed it.

I'm sure that BLM played a part in the decline in ratings but also honestly since the lockdown cancelled sports back in March I just switched my lifestyle up. I'm reading more than I have since I was in college, I taught my son to play chess and we play pretty much every evening. I've been binge watching documentaries, working out and trying to broaden my horizons. When sports was cancelled it made me realize that I have wasted a lot of time focusing on sports to the detriment of other areas of interest - now I'm more about self improvement and working on my own goals.

[Mr. Woke]

The fact that BLM was on the court didn't offend me at all.

However, it helps that I am not a sensitive snowflake.

[coin24]

The fact that BLM was on the court didn't offend me at all.

However, it helps that I am not a sensitive snowflake.

Do you have time to watch games between your 200 alts here and routine diaper changes Simon?

[coin24]

The fact that the league ran scared from offending China cause of their $$ yet will shit on Americans should tell you what the league stands for.

Anyone giving them a cent should wake up to themselves..

[Mr. Woke]

Do you have time to watch games between your 200 alts here and routine diaper changes Simon?

I don't have an alternate account.

Lol at the snowflakes who get offended by BLM.

[Nanners]

In addition to the social justice bullshit, I think the lack of fans is also hurting all the pro sports leagues, especially the NBA.

One of the great things about the NBA is that it allows fans to get closer to the action than any other pro sport, and this is very apparent watching games on TV. On the standard NBA broadcast camera angle (halfcourt and about ~30 rows up from the floor), there are fans visible in the background at all times. The existence of these fans validates the tv viewers, these fans send a silent message that the game is exciting and a good use of the viewers time (its such a good use of a time that people are willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to sit in those courtside seats that are always visible). These fans often have interactions with the players... a player might jump into the stands to save a loose ball and send beers and nachos flying everywhere, or maybe they just get in a shit talking contest... either way NBA fans play a bigger role in the NBA experience than the fans of any other pro sport.

Without the presence of fans to constantly reinforce the idea that there are lots of people who care about the game, I think some viewers are asking themselves why they care about these games in the first place?

The loss of fans also plays a role in the NBA experience with regard to officiating, which ultimately influences ratings as well. NBA has atrocious officiating (its not that the refs are particularly bad, but there is obvious bias favoring certain teams/stars and basketball is extremely difficult to officiate in general), and the fans help to keep the refs honest and grounded. While home crowds obviously dont complain when the refs are favoring their team, they get very noisy/rowdy when the refs are making bad calls in favor of the visiting team, and I dont think theres any question that crowds play a big role in keeping the refs honest.