r/nba • u/nba NBA • 2d ago

The NBA delivered its most-watched Christmas Day in five years, with viewership up 84% vs. last year across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+.

The NBA on Christmas Day averaged 5.25 million viewers per game in the U.S. The matchup between the Lakers and Warriors – the most-watched NBA regular season and Christmas Day game in five years – averaged 7.76 million viewers and peaked with 8.32 million viewers.

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u/hollow-ataraxia 2d ago

Making the games easier to watch and platforming marquee stars is the key.

The other part that the NBA needs to do is to make people more aware of the new generation of stars - fans deserve to know about Paolo Banchero, Alperen Sengun, etc. Hell, the Cavs are on track for an unreal winning season and I barely see anything in the media or through official channels about Mitchell, Mobley or Garland.

When people know that there are exciting young star players in Cleveland, Orlando, Detroit, Houston, Indiana, Atlanta, Charlotte, etc., you can attract more viewership to the game as the marquee stars fade. It won't be the same as Bron/Steph/KD, but it doesn't have to be.

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u/johnny____utah Pacers 2d ago

They also need to promote emerging or established rivalries instead of solely relying on stars.

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u/A-Centrifugal-Force 2d ago

Every single Wemby vs. OKC game needs to be nationally televised. That’s the best emerging rivalry in the league and they need to put it everywhere

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u/Less-Tax5637 Timberwolves 2d ago

Not up to date on OKC’s injuries right now, but when/if Chet is back the games are gonna pop off hard. Wemby the Alien vs Abe Lincoln is good tv even if you don’t know a thing about basketball

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u/giri0n [OKC] Desmond Mason 2d ago

SAY HIS NAME WEMBY....SAY HIS NAME.

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u/StaffSgtDignam Wizards 1d ago

 Every single Wemby vs. OKC game needs to be nationally televised.

Wemby’s .500 team stinks tho

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u/john_454 Thunder 2d ago

It's crazy to me how OKC and the Cavs didn't feature on Christmas day so many good match ups!

Thunder vs Mavs rematch

Cavs vs Celtics

Just to name two incredible match ups. Christmas day games should be announced at the start of December.

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u/hollow-ataraxia 2d ago

I think OKC topping the West two years in a row will make it impossible to ignore them next Christmas, same with Memphis being back at full strength. Wouldn't be shocked to see next year's Christmas games include both those teams, with OKC's matchup probably being against the Spurs to sell Wemby vs Chet

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u/johnny____utah Pacers 2d ago

You’d think, but they completely ignored the Heatles vs GQ Pacers playoff rivalry.

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u/International-Chef33 Celtics 2d ago

OKC was wild to me to not have included since they were the wests 1 seed with a rising star, young core, and only got better.

I understand the Cavs being left off, I don’t think anyone was predicting the start that they’ve had when the schedule was announced

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u/john_454 Thunder 2d ago

The NBA is terrible at marketing teams and stars. SGA is cool, into fashion, a great family man and a great role model and from North America .... Why not market him as a star it makes no sense

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u/International-Chef33 Celtics 2d ago

Then when playoffs come around we’re going to get discussions on casual fans asking “wait, there’s no Lebron, Curry, Wemby playing for a title?”

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u/john_454 Thunder 1d ago

And shit ratings ...

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u/thepapercrain 1d ago

How is putting games on ESPN and TNT every week, “hard to watch”?

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u/StaffSgtDignam Wizards 1d ago

 Making the games easier to watch and platforming marquee stars is the key.

They haven’t found a suitable “face of the league” replacement for Bron though. Same with Curry as well.

People are saying Wemby or Ant but they haven’t proven they can take that mantle though.