It’s a strange place to break sports news, but The Today Show got quite the NBA scoop yesterday in an interview with Adam Silver. The commissioner told NBC that he will talk to Western Conference teams about moving the start times of some games up.
Craig Melvin, who conducted the interview for NBC, asked if Western Conference dominance was bad for business for the NBA. Silver says he wouldn’t call it bad for business, but there is a natural decline in ratings. “I mean, you can just chart it. You see how many television households turn off around 11:15, 11:30 at night, just because people have to get up for work in the morning.”
Silver said from a national perspective, the idea makes sense. He also acknowledged that the plan isn’t perfect. “I mean, it is something we can address. We’re talking about it. I mean, it would obviously be less convenient to those fans on the West Coast if we played even earlier. I mean, just think about people getting to those arenas after work if you start a game at 6 p.m. local time in the West. It’s not the most convenient thing. It’s not as convenient for a television watcher on the West coast, either.”
The NBA saw ratings fall this year as its biggest star, LeBron James, went west to join the Los Angeles Lakers. Both of the league’s major cable partners saw declines. Ratings at TNT fell off by 26% from 2018. ESPN experienced a 6% fall.
Just how quickly the plan goes into action remains to be seen. Silver has only committed to discussing the idea with teams and owners this summer. It may also behoove the NBA to wait and see what teams like the Knicks and Celtics do this offseason. If one or both of those teams acquire superstar talent, the league may want to see how that effects ratings before committing to any major sea change.
