The landscape of the NBA changed quite dramatically last offseason when LeBron James decided to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. While it may be a coincidence, that has not resulted in an increased level of interest in the league.
In a recent conversation with Bill Simmons of The Ringer, NBA commissioner Adam Silver expressed some of the concerns he has about the league, and one of them was that television ratings have been down this season. Silver said the NBA is having trouble reaching fans in the target age 18-34 demographic, as many of those fans don’t have cable or NBA streaming packages. The problem is most of those fans aren’t attending games as an alternative to watching on TV or mobile devices.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that a midseason memo that was distributed to teams showed that ticket sales are down this season from a year ago. While ticket revenue is up slightly, it could obviously be higher.
There are probably countless theories about why ratings and ticket revenue are down, but you have to wonder if LeBron joining the Lakers has had an impact in that area. For evidence, look no further than the way the Lakers have been supported even when their teams were horrible. If you think about it, LeBron helped attract attendees and viewers to home and road games involving the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Lakers were going to get those fans, anyway. That could certainly be a factor.
