The NBA generates billions of dollars in revenue and has a global audience. But its U.S. viewership ratings continue to tank.
Pro Football Talk’s (PFT) Mike Florio found that last weekend’s NFL preseason game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Detroit Lions averaged more viewers than all five of the NBA’s Christmas Day games last year.
“Hawks-Knicks at noon ET? 2.924 million average viewers,” Florio wrote. “Celtics-Bucks at 2:29 p.m. ET drew 4.933 million. Warriors-Suns, with a 5:13 p.m. ET tip, got 5.189 million. Nets-Lakers, starting at 8:00 p.m. ET, had 5.753 million. Finally, Mavs-Jazz did 1.519 million.”
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By contrast, CBS's Lions-Steelers game averaged 5.821 million viewers , which was up 65 percent from last year. The game also reached 7.597 million viewers at its peak.
CBS Sports' Coverage of @Lions-@Steelers is Most-Watched @NFLonCBS Preseason Game Since 2013. pic.twitter.com/XhQ54SowF6
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) August 30, 2022
The numbers for the NBA games aren’t great to begin with, especially considering that the NBA makes a concerted effort to market its Christmas Day games. But when you stack it up against the numbers from the Lions-Steelers game, which is basically a televised tryout for the fringe players fighting for the last few roster spots, the perspective gets even worse.
It’s not that surprising that the league that consorts with communist human rights violators while preaching social justice, and that continues to test unvaccinated team personnel is putting up abysmal viewership numbers. It’s almost like people are fed up with the nonsense the league so unashamedly supports.
