Televison ratings are down 26% from 2018 and the NBA is facing a disaster currently. With ratings being down they must find someway to fix this immediately. With March Madness ratings going up by 9%, the question around the league is why are the ratings down?
The most obvious reason would be that we are entering the age of streaming where no one truly watches tv anymore. That would be a fine answer typically, but not when the ratings are down by a staggering 26%. During regular season, the views were down by only 5% which is a fixable issue. The ratings dropping in 26% should be an eye opening revolution to the league and they should work to fix this issue.
The biggest reason for the huge ratings dropping is LeBron James. He's the biggest NBA player of this generation, and the most marketable player since Michael Jordan. According to Forbes, last year the Warriors vs Cavs series in the Finals brought in an average of 17.6 million viewers. LeBron James is must watch tv, and brings in the most views, even the most casual NBA fans must watch him play.
LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers is a dream come true to the league, until they realized he didn't make the playoffs. If the Lakers made the playoffs they wouldn't have had this issue at all. March Madness ratings were way up, mainly because of the play of Zion Williamson. It should open the league's eyes to the problem they could be faced with. What happens when LeBron retires?
LeBron James is 34 years old and has been in the league for 15 seasons, entering his 16th next year. This should show the league that they need a new superstar to build their brand around. The most obvious candidate to being to make the biggest star in the league is Zion Williamson. Zion is already a stud in college and is destined to being the next superstar. Zion's best bet will be to going to the Knicks and saving New York basketball. If the Knicks can build a strong team around Zion, then the NBA will be set for when LeBron James does retire.
These television ratings for the playoffs should scare the NBA and make then prepare more for the future of the league. They need to begin to plan for when LeBron James retires because these ratings are terrible without him.
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