[Rankin] ... Kevin Durant continuing to address #NBA viewership being down. "I take this serious. I'm locked in as to why people don't want to watch us play."

https://x.com/DuaneRankin/status/1872176949801504956?t=sOlhzun3lYo5ImePn8Xpwg&s=19

6.5k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

563

u/Jack_M_Steel Lakers 1d ago

It’s said all the time, but lack of access is legitimately the biggest issue. It’s obscene how hard it is to just turn on one streaming service and tune into the game you want to watch without it being pirated

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u/S_AME 1d ago edited 1d ago

From where I'm at, you'll have no choice but to watch it through LP if you want full access. The NBA TV is only available on a cabled channel. No one subscribes to those anymore in this day and age.

I have an LP account myself but almost everyone I know watch it on proxy sites. We have a ratio of 10 pirates for every 1 LP subscriber from all the people I know of. They might as well provide an official livestream at this point.

13

u/Oo__II__oO NBA 1d ago

If I want to watch Warriors games, I have to subscribe to a package that has NBCSN (NBC Bay Area Sports Network). That's the only reason for that channel to exist, and yet I can't get it a-la-carte, so it is bundled with a bunch of other crap I don't want, nor watch. This drives my cable bill to $83/mo (YouTube TV raising their rates from $73/mo). That's a lot of coin for basic cable plus watching 90% of the games available.

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u/Burnem34 Trail Blazers 1d ago

Yea I know one guy that still has cable to watch his team and I have LP and everyone else I know is watching games illegally. My old bball homies from high school, people I've met across different jobs, guys I hoop with at the gym, gaming friends. I'm talking about like 30 people that I know for sure tune into an illegal stream when they wanna watch a game vs. Myself and the 1 guy watching legally. And even I have to pirate a game if it's on ESPN/TNT/ABC or against a black-out team for my area.

I can pretty much guarantee over 50% of viewers are doing it illegally. Would not be surprised if it's even closer to 75%

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u/Uncircled_swag2 [CHI] Zach LaVine 1d ago

Yesterday’s games being on Disney+ was a huge positive change, but I had no idea they were on Disney until I looked at the NBA app.

I don’t even watch the NFL but I knew the Christmas games were on Netflix because they’re so good about marketing. NBA needs to up their marketing budget.

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u/superduperdoobyduper San Diego Clippers 1d ago

no way I didn’t know I would’ve watched them lmao

2

u/Auntypasto Celtics 1d ago

They mentioned it on some ads… but nobody pays attention to those… 😂

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u/superduperdoobyduper San Diego Clippers 1d ago

Yeah I saw the jingle hoops regifted ad but I was kind of more focused on the creative aspect and not the details of games lol

1

u/ZeekLTK Pistons 1d ago

lol same, I had no idea it was on and I get that service

8

u/Auntypasto Celtics 1d ago

I'll give the league a break on this one; this was on Disney/ESPN, as they are the ones who are supposed to promote the games they have and their platforms.

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u/QuietRainyDay 1d ago

Because everyone wants their slice of your wallet

All these corporations think of the middle class as a Thanksgiving turkey that needs to be carved up and consumed down to the bone and marrow.

You'll better pay your tribute to HBO, Hulu, Disney, YouTube, Fubo, Comcast. Then get back to your 12-hour shift in the mines to earn the tribute for next month!!

No one is interested in providing accessible, affordable products to the masses. They just want their 30% profit margins to show to their investors. And this is everywhere, not just sports.

1

u/ST07153902935 Washington Bullets 1d ago

But these corporations are also dumb. If you paywall your league then people will care less about it and pay less in the future. NBA is just following the PAC12 model

7

u/GregMadduxsGlasses 1d ago

Idk if this addresses the issue with the declining ratings for the marquee games on TNT and ESPN. Those games don’t require you to jump through a bunch of hoops to watch, and there’s still a declining interest with the sport.

Wild because 4 years ago, everyone was saying the NBA was primed to rival the NFL as far as viewership with their younger audience.

1

u/undecided_mask 1d ago

Problem is the younger audience doesn’t watch the games enough.

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u/ZeekLTK Pistons 1d ago

Because TNT and ESPN aren’t accessible anymore. Used to be you turn on the TV and just click over to those channels. But now no one has cable anymore, and they are now to difficult to find stations. Like I get the Disney/ESPN+ bundle… and I can’t watch ESPN. Like what. I am literally paying for a service that has ESPN in the name and I can’t watch “regular” ESPN. GTFO (them, not you)

Honestly, I don’t even know how to watch “regular” ESPN anymore. Is it even on a streaming service or do you have to have cable?? I don’t care enough to find out I guess.

3

u/denverblazer Trail Blazers 1d ago

10000% this is it. I grew up in Portland and every Blazers game was on local airwaves for free. It's light years from that availability now. Same thing in Denver, and I imagine that goes for every city. Just impossible to keep up and clued in.

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u/ram0h Lakers 1d ago

to watch the lakers we have to pay what, $75 a month for spectrum cable?

2

u/Oyaro2323 1d ago

I mean I just have YouTube TV, one thing, and it works. I get to watch every Warriors game with that regardless of if it’s a national game or not and the national games on top of that. And for a moderate fan that’s good enough. Sure I may miss some games from other teams but I’d kind of expect to need to pay for a second thing or some sort of premium to watch any game I may want across the league.

2

u/wuvonthephone 1d ago

Isn't it hilarious that sailing the seas is easier and better than legit paying for it? I don't understand why I can't just buy access to every game for my team for some affordable price, they would rather not have me watch at all than put them out there for a price that isn't insane.

2

u/grandfatherclause 1d ago

All can be summed up as Greed.

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u/irishmenno 1d ago

I had to work some black magic fuckery on my cable provider to get them to bundle all the channels that potentially carry NBA games, and then I STILL have to get League Pass for 1/3 of them. If my son wasn’t such a superfan there’s no way I’d bother.

2

u/brightcoconut097 Pacers 1d ago

Why are NBA fans always saying lack of access is an issue yet NFL has network TV, TV Network, Prime, Netflix and their ratings are awesome?

I don't see it as an access issue. If the product was great people would pay.

0

u/Jack_M_Steel Lakers 1d ago

Comparing two sports that are completely different, especially in America, is your first problem. We’re talking about NBA, not football. I don’t know how to say this without being a dick, but I didn’t say it was the only issue. You just sound like a complete idiot if you’re trying to explain to me that the one thing I pointed out encompasses the complete popularity of a sport and its viewing numbers

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u/dBlock845 Knicks 1d ago

And when you do get access to nationally televised games, the product is absolute garbage. Especially on ESPN, which seems to be leaking over to TNT/Inside now.

1

u/fattybunter [MIA] Dwyane Wade 1d ago

Sure that makes the experience worse, but that’s not THE issue though because the NFL is just as disjointed and doesn’t have that problem.