The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2024-25 season is off to a great start, but overall TV viewership across the NBA is down. There are many potential reasons for this, whether it’s injuries, other leagues going on, or an increase in 3-point shooting that makes the game less appealing. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has dismissed this latest idea and believes the league’s slow start is simply tied to the World Series and the recent presidential election coverage period.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the 3-point shot,” Silver said. “I think we’re just looking at a couple of weeks of ratings. There’s always unique things. This year we were faced with the World Series, talking about Los Angeles, the Dodgers and the Yankees. My Yankees don’t have it done, but they were two very attractive teams and they had a good run, they brought a great crowd. There was a presidential election that attracted enormous attention. So I don’t think it has anything to do with style of play on the parquet. I mean, as far as the style of game, I like where our game is right now. It’s always things that we’re trying to change in various ways, but the fans are responding to it. We have more traffic on social media than at any other time in our history huge global market of interest for the NBA. So, like I said, we’re off to a good start.”
It’s hard to know what exactly caused the NBA’s (TV) ratings to drop, but things usually pick up around Christmas, so the hope is that it’ll be like that again. The league is also currently in the midst of the Emirates NBA Cup, which has helped drive viewers to regular season games on Tuesday and Friday nights. Regardless, the NBA needs to continue to find better ways to keep fans engaged during this early part of the season, as what they’ve been doing isn’t working if the goal is to increase viewership. Having high-profile teams like the Lakers in the league mix will only help, so Silver and the league are likely hoping they remain as competitive as they have this early.
