I believe NBA ratings are down because of the new outrageously greedy "pay-per-view" streaming strategy. The ratings were built through free TV exposure, along with superior talented sportswriters. With nobody buying newspapers and $20/month to watch teams with ZERO chance for a championship, eventually merchandise sales will also fall off the cliff in America. The long-term effect of too much focus on big market teams over the years is now coming to light. Don't even get me started, LOL.
This is spot on. Tough to appeal to the masses when your product doesn't reach them, not to mention the lack of providing each fan base with a reason to hope beyond distant seasons away.
As a proud and frustrated Butler alum, I disagree with the sentiment that 10 years ago taking the Big East invite was a mistake. It has boosted the university’s standing nationally, and generated a wider variety of interest and, in theory, better qualified students.
Every conference game has a tune in factor. Georgetown or George Mason? LaSalle or Villanova? Saint Louis or Creighton? And we get to have a nice rivalry with Xavier. Not to mention the larger rev share from FS1.
That said: we need to rebuild this program in a way that Painter has done at Purdue. Recruit guys overlooked by others and keep them there for four years. Matta has a resume, but he’s past his prime. Holtman could have made them into Creighton, but he was always too big for the program. Got paid, ended up where he belongs.
We need a good coach who wants to stay and build something special. Not a former player who has never been a head man, an experienced guy who is content to work at Hinkle and make 2-3M per year.
Agree with pretty much every point you have made here:
-IU's roster has been created as a collection of hired hands who lack any pride with regard to the program and its history. The arrogance and ineptness of the coach is beyond defensible.
Fans of the program are just cheering for laundry at this point.
-Didn't have a dog in the IU/Purdue wars before (I grew up cheering Notre Dame and attended Ball State), but I definitely respect and can connect with what Painter has done at Purdue. For all the folks saying he got lucky with Edey, those are the folks who like to nitpick. Aside from a short window where he admitted he had to re-think how he recruited, he has done well from the Baby Boilers, to Carsen Edwards time, to this year's Braden Smith edition. You can attack the lack of championships (which you can do to 99%+ of the coaches), but you cannot dismiss the body of consistent success and inspired play.
-Give me Olsen over Brady every day of the week. It always stinks when it's clear the rules are being applied like in Animal Farm. Heck, I'd take the Dan Fouts / Dennis Miller combo at this point.
-Shorter game times in the NBA will solve none of the problems they hope to address. Coaches will still play the best players the minutes that they already are, unless there is an individual player minute cap applied. Otherwise, it's the mid-tier players on the bench that will get squeezed out.
-No moves make sense with changing the roster of the Pacers. They built this team seeking the type of talent they acquired while staying out of the tax. Not sure acquiring a player that puts them above the tax moves the title-needle that much without sacrificing the culture that built this success.
-Fever are looking exciting. Taking advantage of surrounding prime talent on rookie contracts with proven veteran talent to lift the franchise higher for post season success. Might be a playbook another franchise in town could borrow.
I’d suggest that the NBA ratings decline started with the super-teams era. It’s hard to build national buzz when the deck is stacked for 3-4 teams.
Great article. Glad to have you back Bob!!!
I believe NBA ratings are down because of the new outrageously greedy "pay-per-view" streaming strategy. The ratings were built through free TV exposure, along with superior talented sportswriters. With nobody buying newspapers and $20/month to watch teams with ZERO chance for a championship, eventually merchandise sales will also fall off the cliff in America. The long-term effect of too much focus on big market teams over the years is now coming to light. Don't even get me started, LOL.
This is spot on. Tough to appeal to the masses when your product doesn't reach them, not to mention the lack of providing each fan base with a reason to hope beyond distant seasons away.
Outstanding insights, Bob.
Bob is back!!!
Plain and simple Dallas did not want to pay a young, out of condition superstar a MAX contract of 5 years $350 million.
Much of that needed to be said. Thanks Bob.
As a life long COLTS fan …. I don’t mind Brady….as with the Manning cast. I always learn things.
As a proud and frustrated Butler alum, I disagree with the sentiment that 10 years ago taking the Big East invite was a mistake. It has boosted the university’s standing nationally, and generated a wider variety of interest and, in theory, better qualified students.
Every conference game has a tune in factor. Georgetown or George Mason? LaSalle or Villanova? Saint Louis or Creighton? And we get to have a nice rivalry with Xavier. Not to mention the larger rev share from FS1.
That said: we need to rebuild this program in a way that Painter has done at Purdue. Recruit guys overlooked by others and keep them there for four years. Matta has a resume, but he’s past his prime. Holtman could have made them into Creighton, but he was always too big for the program. Got paid, ended up where he belongs.
We need a good coach who wants to stay and build something special. Not a former player who has never been a head man, an experienced guy who is content to work at Hinkle and make 2-3M per year.
Agree with pretty much every point you have made here:
-IU's roster has been created as a collection of hired hands who lack any pride with regard to the program and its history. The arrogance and ineptness of the coach is beyond defensible.
Fans of the program are just cheering for laundry at this point.
-Didn't have a dog in the IU/Purdue wars before (I grew up cheering Notre Dame and attended Ball State), but I definitely respect and can connect with what Painter has done at Purdue. For all the folks saying he got lucky with Edey, those are the folks who like to nitpick. Aside from a short window where he admitted he had to re-think how he recruited, he has done well from the Baby Boilers, to Carsen Edwards time, to this year's Braden Smith edition. You can attack the lack of championships (which you can do to 99%+ of the coaches), but you cannot dismiss the body of consistent success and inspired play.
-Give me Olsen over Brady every day of the week. It always stinks when it's clear the rules are being applied like in Animal Farm. Heck, I'd take the Dan Fouts / Dennis Miller combo at this point.
-Shorter game times in the NBA will solve none of the problems they hope to address. Coaches will still play the best players the minutes that they already are, unless there is an individual player minute cap applied. Otherwise, it's the mid-tier players on the bench that will get squeezed out.
-No moves make sense with changing the roster of the Pacers. They built this team seeking the type of talent they acquired while staying out of the tax. Not sure acquiring a player that puts them above the tax moves the title-needle that much without sacrificing the culture that built this success.
-Fever are looking exciting. Taking advantage of surrounding prime talent on rookie contracts with proven veteran talent to lift the franchise higher for post season success. Might be a playbook another franchise in town could borrow.