With the dawn of a new season for the National Basketball Association rapidly approaching, basketball fans will notice a variety of changes to the on-court product at tip off in just about one week. Whether it is the new transition-take foul rule, an in-game flopping penalty and alterations to the challenge system, the Association hopes to improve the standard of its game play and render a more enjoyable and equitable sport leading up to the NBA Finals.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league’s leadership team are constantly thinking about ways to keep the game relevant and embedded within sports culture. One of the new tenets that will affect the perception of the league is in its player participation policy, which has been instituted to prevent the deluge of “load management” that was taking place throughout the season.
While it may analytically make sense to rest star players for certain games, doing so took away from the fan experience and left both in-person attendees and at-home viewers disappointed that they would not be able to watch these athletes suit up. The league made the decision just two seasons ahead of the expiration of its media rights contract, which is worth approximately $2.6 billion annually between The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery, and recognizes the importance of intriguing and captivating younger demographics.
“Everyone in the organization has to understand that this is a fan-first business,” Silver said in an interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take, “[and] that particularly because of some of the media changes we talked about [in] that we’re moving [more] away from sort of a bundle environment where you just pay one price and you get everything to this notion of, ‘I’m only going to pay for what I want.’ It’s also a response to the marketplace; a realization that in order to keep our business going, we have to constantly be putting our best foot forward.”
A growing number of NBA players participate in external media endeavors throughout the season, much of which is in the form of players hosting their own podcasts. Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has a hit show with The Volume, while Patrick Beverley works with Barstool Sports and Paul George partners with Wave Sports + Entertainment. Silver is encouraged by player interest in the media, and in turn, the appetite for fans to consume basketball content, but also knows his role as the commissioner is to protect the integrity of the league.
“In all seriousness, there are guardrails,” Silver said. “I think they recognize them, and once in a while, players will cross them in terms of language that’s appropriate [and] other societal places where I think they understand they’re part of a larger organization. I get the fact that some fans may be upset or they disagree with a players’ particular point of view – I’m completely accepting of that – I think there are other areas, again, more around respect and decency and things like that where, again, we’ve just got to make sure there’s parameters to players doing media themselves.”
Silver understands that players have varied interests that cannot always be displayed on the basketball court – such as fashion, food and lifestyle apparel, including watches. These athletes disseminate stories and their thoughts on these platforms, cognizant of the value in being able to attract an audience. Silver also observes the palpable impact these endeavors are having in creating companies and brands, along with building individual and familial wealth. Although basketball fans may be more of a concomitant audience, other listeners could be compelled to discover the NBA and its portfolio through player-driven media.
“The more people learn about them, I think the more likely they are then to want to tune in and see them play basketball,” Silver stated.
