The NBA’s experiment with in-season tournaments comes to an end in Sin City. Is it effective?
Based on last year’s In-Season Championship (IST) records, all 30 NBA teams were divided into six groups of five teams at the start of the season.
Similar to the European Football Championship, the teams compete against each other in the “group stage”, with the group leader and the two “wild cards” advancing to the “knockout rounds”, starting with the quarter-finals from December 4th. With the dust settling, the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers are the final two teams now set to compete in the inaugural NBA Cup, scheduled for Saturday.
The idea behind the tournament is to develop a formula to keep players competitive and fans involved.
The league even provided 30 new stadium designs for the tournament, with the home teams wearing redesigned “City Edition” jerseys.
“We want our in-season tournament games to be immediately eye-catching and grab fans’ attention, and the bold colors on the court achieve that,” Chris Arena, the NBA’s director of on-court brand partnerships, told reporters.
The league’s nine-year, $24 billion media rights deal with ESPN and Turner Sports (now known as TNT Sports) – both owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Channel – is coming to an end – and the next deal is Esteemed Value is more than double.
However, in recent years, league ratings for ABC, ESPN and TNT Sports have been disappointing and stagnated.
For the 2022-23 season, both regular season and NBA Finals numbers are down, down 6% from 2022.
But the “group play” phase of IST scored average 1.5 million viewersrepresenting a 26% increase in viewership for the game on ESPN and TNT compared to last season’s November games.
Die Audience numbers on local channels are up 20% and League Pass viewing time is up 25% compared to last November.
The NBA app and the league’s social media channels had their best November yet with 3.9 billion video views across digital accounts.
TNT’s broadcast of the Phoenix Suns-Lakers quarterfinal game saw an 89% increase over the previous season window, averaging 1.97 million views.
In addition, more and more people are attending the games in person. The league’s November viewership average reached 18,206, the highest ever recorded for the month.
Meanwhile, players who were once skeptical are now proactive and eager to bring home a new NBA trophy.
“At first we didn’t really know what it was, we just knew there was money on the line,” Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard told reporters before the team’s quarterfinal game against the New York Knicks.
“And then as time went on, I think everyone embraced it more and more, and now it’s become real entertainment, real competitive basketball. We’re playing for something.”
Quarterfinalists received $50,000, while players from teams eliminated in the semifinals received a $100,000 appearance bonus.
Players on the losing team in Saturday’s final will receive $200,000 each, while the winner of the IST will receive a team trophy, individual medals and 500.000 USD for each player who wins the championship.
IST also helps the league market players from lesser-known teams, such as Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton has been outstanding in this tournament and continued his streak with the Pacers’ surprising 128-119 semifinal victory over the Bucks on Thursday night.
Haliburton didn’t commit a turnover for the second straight game and finished Saturday’s IST championship game with 27 points and 15 assists.
“In-season tournaments have created the NBA’s single-culture moment over a single game window on national television,” The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov posted on X (formerly Twitter).
NBA commentator Robert Perez also wrote about “Huge brand exposure that they wouldn’t have gotten without this success.”
For most players in the league and die-hard fans around the world, IST started as a strange experiment, but now it looks like it will last for years to come with the full support of stars and audiences.
The league has invested a lot of time, manpower and money into introducing IST, and the risk appears to be paying off.
The NBA Cup Finals take place at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on ABC and ESPN2.
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Source: edition.cnn.com
2023-12-09 11:48:43
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