More Bad News For The Haters As The NBA Just Had Their Most Viewers In 15 Years After The First Month Of The Season

Erick W. Rasco. Getty Images.

Given what a hot topic the NBA ratings seemed to be last season, which in turn created some of the most idiotic takes you'll ever see, I just wanted to provide a little update.

After the Opening Week numbers came in, and as it turned out 3pt shooting actually wasn't killing the sport given the fact that the TV ratings were up 60%, it was a tough day for the haters. How could that be possible with the NBA still having the 3pt line and not changing the rules or the court? You'll remember, that's all we heard last year. That people weren't watching because of the 3pt shooting. It was an incorrect, lazy narrative, but welcome to the internet. 

One thing I was curious about with those numbers was how much of it was mostly because the NBA on NBC and Amazon had just started, and everyone was tuning in to see how those broadcasts would go. I don't want to say artificially inflating the numbers, but more some context around maybe why there was such a jump from year to year.

Well, now that we're a month into the season and the newness novelty has worn off a little bit, how are things looking now?

Wait a minute…,

So far this season, we have a total of 10 teams averaging at least 40 3PA a game. Last season, that number was 4. I'm not a huge math guy (ASU), but by my calculations, that's more than 2x the teams right? Someone gut check me on that math. 

As it turns out, I guess the playstyle in 2025 wasn't the actual explanation for the ratings bullshit? 

In reality, having the games more accessible to viewers is leading to better ratings despite the overall playstyle not changing?

It just goes to show you how disingenuous all of that bullshit was

"Wahhh every team plays the same which is why nobody is watching" - false

"Wahhh every game is just 3pt shooting it's boring nobody watches that" - false

"Wahhh if they changed the rules more people would watch" - false

"Wahhhh the only way to save the ratings is to change the court" - false

You couldn't escape that bullshit, and the most vocal about it were people who couldn't make it clearer they weren't actually watching the product on a nightly basis. They were trying to compare the ratings to the quality of the product, which never made any goddamn sense, and this season is pretty much confirmation of that. Nothing about the playstyle you were told is to blame for the NBA ratings has changed, but the ratings are better than ever. Every single night in the NBA continues to be must-watch this season, just like it was last season and the season before that etc. It was never a product issue, it was a distribution issue. Now that Silver figured that out and signed the new TV deal, look at what's happened.

It also doesn't hurt that both the NBC and Amazon broadcasts have been legitimately awesome, which makes the viewing experience so much better compared to what we've been forced to watch these last few seasons, and in my opinion it all works together.

More visibility + a better viewing experience = more people wanting to tune in/consistently coming back

It wasn't the 3P volume, it wasn't the rules, it wasn't the court design. Do I feel somewhat vindicated as someone who continued to push back on that bullshit all last season? Yes. I'd be lying if I said I didn't. Mostly because as someone who watches the NBA every night, I knew what my eyes were seeing. The league and its product have never been better, and the good news is it's only going to continue to get better given how good the young talent currently is.