NBA
Shaq explores the reasons for NBA audience drop
The former player believes that the NBA’s drop in audience numbers this season has to do with the increasing number of three-pointers attempted.
The rise of the three-pointer. For many fans, this has been slowly dominating the sport and for others, this test of accuracy and precision sees more points scored and makes the games more entertaining.
Shaquille O’Neal is not in the latter group with the former player speaking on the subject in a podcast recently and linked with the boom in three-point attempts linked with a drop in the NBA’s declining ratings in the United States: The 52-year-old stated: “I have a theory. It’s down because we’re seeing the same thing all the time. Every team is shooting three-pointers these days. They’re all running the same damn zone plays behind the free throw, with the dribble and the step-back. And the ratings are going to continue to go down unless we change things back to the way they were done”.
Dallas-Warriors, three-point fest
His comments come following a game that broke the records as the Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks game saw 48 three-pointers made between the two teams, the most in NBA history. The Warriors made 27 (a franchise record), 18 of them in the first half (which equalled the best record ever in the league).
Among the culprits was, of course, Stephen Curry, the all-time leading three-point shooter in NBA history. The point guard, who hit seven threes, has also been the target of Shaquille’s half-joking, half-serious criticism: ‘Curry has ruined basketball,’ he said, referring to the revolution in the sport that came from the Warriors star, who was the first player to start shooting (and making) three-pointers from anywhere on the court. Literally.
NBA audience dip
It is true that this year the NBA is being watched by less people than at this stage last season. Both opening day and week two games saw audiences 42% and 30% lower, year-on-year.
The new format NBA Cup games have also been seen a drop in viewership but the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver does not share Shaquille’s diagnosis.
Silver believes that the reasons for this drop in viewership are not to be found on the court, but off the court. ‘This year we had to compete with a Dodgers-Yankees World Series, two very attractive teams. They’ve got a great audience,’ he said of a really strong rivalry. Another reason, according to Silver, has been the American elections, with all that this drags down and takes away from the rest of the content.
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