The biggest mistake professional sports have ever made, was their decision to embrace left-wing politics.
Most sports fans lean right and don’t want politics injected into the games they watch. They certainly don’t want to be lectured to.
Now sports are paying the price, particularly the NBA.
OutKick reports:
IT’S TIME TO WORRY ABOUT THE NBA’S RATINGS
Self-inflicted wounds are purposely ignored until they can’t be. For the NBA, that moment is inching closer.
Coming into the 2020-21 season, NBA games on ABC — the league’s most important partner — were down 45% since 2011-12. On cable, it’s only slightly less damning. NBA broadcasts on TNT were down 40% and 20% on ESPN.
To stick with more recent trends, the past two NBA Finals crashed to double-digit declines, with the most recent falling down 51% to an all-time record low. Last season’s NBA on ABC games fit that same category, recording the lowest average (2.95 million) on record. According to The Athletic’s Ethan Strauss, that record will break once again this season.
“Eventually, it will be official: The NBA again lost viewership on its ABC games, down from last season’s all-time low,” Strauss writes. “Based on how this average drops as the season moves along (it starts off highest after the Christmas games bonanza), we can safely project that the ABC games will finish at a mark that’s lower than last season.”
What’s going to happen when the players aren’t paid big bucks anymore? That’s coming.
The NBA, more than any other league, relies on one or two guys to be the face of the league. Their rises and falls depend on who that face is. Magic and Bird, league was good. Jordan, league was supernova. LeBron James, league nosediving. https://t.co/v0i0Psyt0I
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) April 17, 2021
Last season was an all time ratings low for the NBA. Until this season. Which is even worse. https://t.co/k0M64XN5vq
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 17, 2021
This was entirely self-inflicted.
The NBA made a huge mistake.
Cross-posted from American Lookout.
