is Lebron the 1st superstar to leave the NBA in a worst state than he found it?

[STATUTORY]

https://sports.yahoo.com/game-1-nba-...225636681.html

the NBA is dying y'all, this is the harsh truth that ESPN doesn't want you to know because they are so financially invested in the league. the over politicization of basketball has legit killed fan interest. and this all started with Le-WHOA-ke, this is his doing. the only superstar to not elevate the game, but destroy it

Tyler "the White" Herro is probably the league's only chance at rejuvenation in the next decade

[WhiteKyrie]

Get woke and go broke. All the team hopping from players and the BLM stuff has killed fan interest.

[BANE?]

Get woke and go broke. All the team hopping from players and the BLM stuff has killed fan interest.

While all the BLM stuff and the "boycott" probably turned off a lot of moderates I would still say the majority of NBA fans are onboard with the messages they push. I mean, most NBA fans are white liberals and black people. A lot of casual fans just don’t care to watch full games, they’d rather check out the highlights on YouTube, Instagram, and twitter. NBA has been a social media league for years now. No one cares about the product, just the manufactured drama

[3ball]

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From the article:

"This is the fourth straight year Game 1 viewership has gone down compared to the previous season."

so the ratings have been declining for years, due to the game changing to a 3-point contest and suburban game.. threes DO get boring after a while

[1987_Lakers]

Miami isn't a team with any big names, that is a big reason for the decline in ratings. Another huge factor is cable TV is almost dead. Most people today have Netflix, Hulu, Prime instead of cable TV cause it's cheaper and there are more things to watch. For what it's worth, the 2018 Finals was more watched than the 2019 Finals despite 2019 being more competitive, that tells me people want LeBron.

Look at the Finals ratings from 2003-2007 when cable tv was still king.

2003 - 6.5
2004 - 11.5 (Lakers were in it)
2005 - 8.2 (Those first 4 games were overly boring)
2006 - 8.5
2007 - 6.2

Now compare that to the 2015-2018 ratings when Cable TV started to decline, but it was LeBron vs one of the greatest teams ever...
2015 - 11.6
2016 - 11.4
2017 - 11.3
2018 - 10.0

Even with cable TV dying, LeBron and the Warriors were still able to draw more viewers than the '03-'07 Finals, no question that LeBron is pretty much the #1 reason why those ratings rose in the 2010's compared to the 00's.

[Shogon]

There are a multitude of factors at play here, some of which are BLM related, and some are streaming related. Some of it is related to the fact that this Finals already has a known outcome, some of it is LeBron moving to the West coast, some of it is the temporary rapid disappearance of Golden State, the most exciting team in the league arguably since the early 2000s Lakers or 90s Bulls.

I continue to believe that, by far the biggest overwhelming factor as to why there is such a sharp ratings decline, is that the games are boring without the crowds. And when you add the fact that people can't go see these guys in person and "connect" with them, it becomes a self perpetuating downward spiral of interest loss by the consumer.

It's not just the NBA. Aren't all sports are taking a beating, including the PGA?

[NBAGOAT]

There are a multitude of factors at play here, some of which are BLM related, and some are streaming related.

I continue to believe that, by far the biggest overwhelming factor as to why there is such a sharp ratings decline, is that the games are boring without the crowds. And when you add the fact that people can't go see these guys in person and "connect" with them, it becomes a self perpetuating downward spiral of interest loss by the consumer.

It's not just the NBA. Aren't all sports are taking a beating, including the PGA?

pga pretty much jumps and drops with tiger's relevance. unfortunately he's not too relevant right now. the other sports including the hockey and baseball playoffs have dropped off too. The fact that every playoffs is on a different month than usual is pretty important too.

[r0drig0lac]

LeCancer?

[Gohan]

Lebron can’t control corona hater

[Honor Boost]

.
From the article:

"This is the fourth straight year Game 1 viewership has gone down compared to the previous season."

so the ratings have been declining for years, due to the game changing to a 3-point contest and suburban game.. threes DO get boring after a while

But then the flaw is that you are comparing the viewership figures to 2016 which is unfair for a lot of reasons. And if 2016 viewership was a peak then a decline from a peak isn't always all that bad. I would need to see 2014, 2015 to make a better call if that makes sense.

[light]

https://sports.yahoo.com/game-1-nba-...225636681.html

the NBA is dying y'all, this is the harsh truth that ESPN doesn't want you to know because they are so financially invested in the league. the over politicization of basketball has legit killed fan interest. and this all started with Le-WHOA-ke, this is his doing. the only superstar to not elevate the game, but destroy it

Tyler "the White" Herro is probably the league's only chance at rejuvenation in the next decade

No, that is because the Finals opponent is a star-less 5 seed. People assumed the Lakers would crush them so why watch?

[GrayGoat]

Uh Tatum averaged like 28/10 thru the playoffs

[hold this L]

Miami isn't a team with any big names, that is a big reason for the decline in ratings. Another huge factor is cable TV is almost dead. Most people today have Netflix, Hulu, Prime instead of cable TV cause it's cheaper and there are more things to watch. For what it's worth, the 2018 Finals was more watched than the 2019 Finals despite 2019 being more competitive, that tells me people want LeBron.

Look at the Finals ratings from 2003-2007 when cable tv was still king.

2003 - 6.5
2004 - 11.5 (Lakers were in it)
2005 - 8.2 (Those first 4 games were overly boring)
2006 - 8.5
2007 - 6.2

Now compare that to the 2015-2018 ratings when Cable TV started to decline, but it was LeBron vs one of the greatest teams ever...
2015 - 11.6
2016 - 11.4
2017 - 11.3
2018 - 10.0

Even with cable TV dying, LeBron and the Warriors were still able to draw more viewers than the '03-'07 Finals, no question that LeBron is pretty much the #1 reason why those ratings rose in the 2010's compared to the 00's.

You mean the Warriors and Curry, not Lebron. Because the Warriors are gone this year, while Lebron is in the finals and there are historic low numbers.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

.
From the article:

"This is the fourth straight year Game 1 viewership has gone down compared to the previous season."

so the ratings have been declining for years, due to the game changing to a 3-point contest and suburban game.. threes DO get boring after a while

That's right when Curry came up on the rise. I blame him, he's incredibly boring to watch. 6 foot guy jacking up threes and dancing? That's not really must watch TV.

[1987_Lakers]

You mean the Warriors and Curry, not Lebron. Because the Warriors are gone this year, while Lebron is in the finals and there are historic low numbers.

Why did the numbers drop in 2019 compared to 2018? Anyone?