The NBA has seen its ratings slide in the past few months and many reasons have been raised. Some pointed out the inflated 3-point attempts, while others said that the NBA has been struggling to create star power across its 30 teams.
In an interview with the Washington Post published on Wednesday, NBA insider Frank Isola shared his thoughts about it. He raised a valid point about marketing and how the WNBA has been making a better pitch than the NBA this year.
“The WNBA today has a better marketing pitch to fans: ‘We play all the time and we hate each other,” Isola said.
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Isola’s remarks echoed ESPN analyst and former NBA player Kendrick Perkins’ thoughts about having more hated players in the league to build more characters around them.
“We need more a**holes who are actually good. We need a thug or two that can play. … Fans are not stupid, they know a lack of competition,” Perkins said.
Once considered the second-biggest league in North America behind the NFL, the NBA has seen its ratings drop by 19% in the past year across its top broadcasters ABC, ESPN and TNT. It increased to 25% when the NBA TV decline was included, according to Sports Media Watch.
On the other hand, the WNBA experienced a massive increase in viewership this year, getting at least 54 million unique viewers from ABC, ION, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2 and NBA TV.
According tot he WNBA, its 2024 season was also the most-viewed regular season in history.
Sports columnist says Caitlin Clark impacts NBA’s declining ratings
Jason Whitlock, a former ESPN sports columnist, blamed the WNBA’s biggest star, Caitlin Clark, for impacting the NBA’s declining ratings this year. Whitlock said that the NBA has lost engaging narratives, unlike in the WNBA, where numerous rivalries between Clark and other players have been featured.
“They’ve lost the plot,” Whitlock said, via the Washington Post. “They don’t have compelling stories…Zion Williamson was supposed to be the next big thing. He’s eaten his way out of that. They don’t have any. Ja Morant carried guns and went into a strip club and decided to be a rapper more than he has, you know, wanting to be a compelling player.”
“And they just kind of – and so what they could not anticipate, and I think this is an under-discussed, and it’s new, I wouldn’t even say it’s under-discussed, but people haven’t realized. Caitlin Clark has actually hurt the NBA.”
He also pointed out how players hate each other in the WNBA, citing the hatred Clark got from her opponents during the season.
“That there used to not be anything interesting going on in basketball during those summer months,” Whitlock said. “Well, we just had a very fascinating basketball story all summer with Caitlin Clark versus the angry black women of the WNBA. That’s a fascinating story. And it’s a basketball story.”
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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez
