CJ McCollum # 3 and Damian Lillard # 0 of the Portland Trail Blazers speak to the media during the Western Conference play-in game against the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the 2020 NBA Restart on August 15, 2020 at The Field House at ESPN Wide World in Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
Jim Gates | National Basketball Association | Getty Images
As the national basketball season shortened under the bubble in Orlando moves into the playoffs, rating numbers are scattered all over the place, with some networks deciding to include total viewers (streaming), claiming media consumption habits have changed. , especially with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Additionally, the league’s stance on social injustice has been widely applauded, but has not been successful with all NBA fans.
But one thing can’t be argued: The NBA can still attract spectators for the games that matter, like last weekend’s “play-in” contest between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Eighth place Blazers and 9th place Grizzlies were competing to secure eighth place in the playoffs in the Western Conference. The play-in was added this year to give teams that were less than four games from eighth place at the end of the shortened regular season a playoff shot. If the Grizzlies had won two games against Portland, they would have made the playoffs. Instead, they lost 126-121 and the Blazers will advance.
Played on a Saturday afternoon, and featuring two NBA markets that rarely attract national attention, the game averaged 1.9 million viewers and peaked at 2.6 million viewers at approximately 4:45 pm. ESPN.
The network told CNBC that the game was up 7% from “NBA seeding games on ABC, which average 1.8 million viewers.”
“That’s a good number,” said longtime sports TV executive Neal Pilson of the Blazers-Grizzlies match-up. “It’s a good score and a good audience. It shows that games that have meaning – win or lose – in almost every sport, get a wider audience than an average league match.”
“We won the day,” NBA league executive Byron Spruell added in an interview with CNBC. “Having so many millions of viewers watching our product and that match-up and the inaugural play-in was huge for us.”
Spruell, the NBA’s president of operations, said the game, featuring dynamic superstar Damian Lillard and rookie star Ja Morant, was “thrilling and thrilling.”
And with the ratings serving as support, the NBA plans to discuss the permanent addition of the play-in model to its traditional 82-game season.
“We are excited about the foundations that have been laid for the play-in and where we can go for the future,” Spruell said.
Players, coaches and staff kneel during the national anthem prior to the game between the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex Arena on August 4, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Kevin C. Cox | USA TODAY Sport | Reuters
Possible regular season series for next year
Spruell said the league is learning a lot from its $ 200 million campus of Walt Disney World, which was added after the NBA game was suspended on March 11 due to the pandemic.
The NBA’s 22-team format was fun, opening to 2 million viewers when it returned on July 30. Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports, said he was surprised at the “level of intensity in the empty arenas with guys who haven’t played competitively for months.
“The quality of the games was pretty good – close, exciting, intense and dramatic endings,” he said. “It was quality television.”
The NBA is paying attention to why the competition is fresh and exciting, and it’s partly due to the lack of travel, which impacts players’ bodies. The league has tried to change the program over the years but has yet to find a cure for “load management”.
The benefits of less travel are a good argument for a series-like schedule, similar to Major League Baseball, which Spruell said is up for debate for the 2021 season.
The model would allow teams to play against each other in the same city. Additionally, clubs could play all of their season’s matches against clubs in multi-team states like Texas, California, and New York in one trip instead of making multiple stops throughout the year.
The series model could also help create scarcity if planned correctly, as some cities may see certain teams and stars only every two years, similar to how the NFL works.
Spruell said the NBA will continue to “look at the travel data, see how it affected the quality of the game. Are there better opportunities for teams to plan? I think all of these things will play out as learning opportunities.”
Pilson said he likes the series concept for two reasons: expense and unmissable competition.
“I’m surprised they haven’t thought about it this far because travel is an expense for the league and the teams,” said Pilson. He added that the second game of the back-to-back series concept could serve as “that uniform level of play that’s fun to watch.”
Some league executives have also done away with conferences, giving the top 16 teams overall a chance in the post-season, but Spruell has hinted that it’s not under consideration at the moment.
Pilson noted, “There is a learning curve here. They are reading the tea leaves. They are looking at the audience measurements, they are looking at the ratings, the players, the intensity level. The rivalries and interactions with the players, stuff went well. It was quality television. “
Spruell also said the league has discussed a December timeline for the start of next season, as it wants to complete its 82-match schedule by the end of June 2021 and avoid clashing with the Olympics. “A lot of things need to be taken into consideration,” Spruell said, including the contribution and endorsement of the National Basketball Players Association.
And there’s more
All of these concepts are just talk at this point, as the NBA is trying to keep its current season intact. But Spruell said the NBA will continue to explore how it can create more match-ups and games that “matter,” as the league now clearly sees the benefits of the play-in contest.
“With change and opportunity comes innovation and experience,” he said. “So having this experience on campus, with health and safety first – there are a lot of lessons to make you think, and if we’re ever able to get back to 82 games on the market, that’s great.
“But there is something in between given where the pandemic could be next season, given the experience we are seeing from our teams and players in this campus format. There is something in between that we will be able to achieve, too. ? “
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