[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

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u/Neemzeh Timberwolves 2d ago

The NBA has put itself into a box though, with player salaries, salary cap, expenses, etc. They basically have to use their existing models or the networks wont pay them as much. If they don't pay as much, they'll probably lose revenue. IDK tho, I'm sure someone with an economic background can explain more accessibility vs. networks paying and whether one will make more than the other. I'd imagine the NBA has crunched these numbers and still think its better for them financially to do it this way, viewership be damned.

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u/Skunk_Gunk [CLE] LeBron James 2d ago

The biggest thing that leagues don’t account for when going this route is that they are losing the next generation of fans by doing this. People rarely start to follow teams/leagues unless they grow up with it. The league needs to think about the next 20 years just not the next quarter, could say this about 90% of companies though to be fair.

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u/Neemzeh Timberwolves 2d ago

Yup, after I wrote my comment it came to me that this will be a massive problem for them in the long term. Short term they can make cash. But long term you are totally right, when all of the pre-teens and teens start earning money, they won't have interest in the NBA because the games were inaccessible to watch. The working class will then not care to spend money, go to games, subscribe or watch at all. That's when the walls will come crashing down on this.

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u/LegateDamar13 2d ago

By then everyone will be very experienced in streaming it "alternative way" and paying absolute zero.

It's already too easy and can get only easier as the time goes, technology progresses and younger generations who are more tech savvy become the primary consumers.

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u/wielesen 2d ago

You'd think that, but the modern kids grow up on phones and consoles, with barely any pc usage. Anything above clicking on an app is too technical for them

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u/queueueuewhee 1d ago

Yeah, my kids don't know shit and don't really want to learn.