Can't help but wonder, Clay, if the NBA's motive for making teams sign G-League or worse players to continue the season has anything to do with making sure they have 5 games to show on national networks on Xmas Day.
Seems like shutting down the whole season for a two week pause a few days back made sense but, their national media partners probably wouldn't be very happy losing out on those massive Xmas Day ratings.
NFL is going to kill them ratings wise on Christmas this year, so I'm not sure that is a real good reason to go forward.
Might have wanted to look at the schedule before posting this. NFL has only a 4:30 and an 8:00 game. The 8:00 game is only on the NFL Network, severely curtailing any conflict against NBA telecasts. And the 4:30 game is Packers v Browns, not exactly a marquee matchup. Meanwhile the NBA have 12:00, 2:30 and 10:30 games running unopposed with marquee matches at 5:00 and 8:00 with the 8:00 game being on ABC and ESPN vs the NFL game on NFLNet.
I stand by my statement. The NFL will significantly outdraw the NBA. It will not be close. The Packers/Browns game will be the most watched television event on Christmas and by a wide margin. Fox is going to have massive ratings for that game. The Warriors v. Suns game is going to be completely overshadowed and that very well may be the game of the year in the NBA. And frankly the lead in to the Packers game will significantly hamper the Bucks viewership in the 230 game against the Celtics. The Nets/Lakers will do ok because as you say the Colts/Cardinals game is on the NFL network, but that is the only game that is going to draw well (and that even probably hinges a great deal on Lebron and KD actually playing in it). The Hawks/Knicks is too early (and isn't a great game) and the Mavericks/Jazz game is too late (especially in the east) and just isn't a big draw. NFL is king. It is the only consistent thing in television ratings right now (at least in the US).
This is surprising.
What is surprising about this?
For some background, Game 6 of the NBA Finals drew just under 12.5 million viewers (that was the most viewers of any of the games). The 430 pm game last Sunday between Green Bay and Baltimore had over 22 million viewers on Fox (same channel as the Packers/Browns). Last year on Christmas, the best drawing game of the day peaked at just under 4 million viewers (that was the Lakers and Mavs). Now that was down from prior years, but the Lakers with Lebron and Davis against Kawhi, George, and the Clippers on Christmas in 2019 (i.e. before Covid) averaged right around 7 million viewers. I'm not even convinced the Cardinals/Colts game won't outdraw the NBA games even with it just being on the NFL Network. I mean the Patriots/Colts game last Saturday, which was only on the NFL Network (outside of home markets) had over 7 million viewers. Now maybe the Cardinals/Colts isn't quite the same draw and there is a really good NBA game as competition, but I wouldn't be surprised if that game outdrew the Nets/Lakers game in the head to head (it is probably the more likely scenario).
I'm not saying this will happen, but it is entirely possible that the Packers/Browns game could have more viewers than all 5 of the NBA games combined, especially if it draws anywhere near to what the Packers/Ravens game drew.
