Top 5 Reasons Fans are Leaving the NBA

[wiley]

Didn't know it....heard it last night....quite a shame with all the talent these days...

1.  Marketing (individuals over teams)
2.  Pussification (not allowing players to police themeselves)
3.  Me-ism: the generational swing towards focus on me, me and more me (salaries?)
4.  Marketing (the constant self congratulations of do-good NBA programs (keep that stuff local ala coverage of Ray Allen's recent event, and limit the national stuff except what's really   
     important and profound)
5.  Constant blowing of ref's whistle, slowing the game down to a crawl   
6.  Media extravaganza:  Glitz, glam, squeals, hyper shifting t.v. screens, at some level watching sports is supposed to be a way to relax after being bombarded by the real world day in and day out, get rid of the macho hype, trash-talk inspiring video game crap.

Okay, top 6 reasons(sorry)                                             

Regarding # 4:  I can't stand when in the middle of an intense playoff or finals battle, they shut everything down for some long, self-congratulatory piece about this or that good deed the N.B.A. is doing.  At that point, it should be all about who's winning that game.  Talk about removing us from the action and reminding us of reality again

[Eja117]

Perhaps reason 7


The league being run like the mafia (not to offend the mafia)

Nobody outside the league can watch the draft lottery

The refs answer only to Stern, who fines anyone who criticizes.

Players get fined for twittering something positive too soon after a win

Weird things happen like Pau Gasol getting traded for two prospects

They try to shut up refs that were able to predict with 80% accuracy the outcome of a game, but don't sue him for libel or defamation

Throw players out of major games when they barely violate a rule

Mercilessly screw fans in Seattle and expect people to just accept that

Double standards for players. If Lebron did what Spree did they'd probably kick the coach out of the league.

[wiley]

Perhaps reason 7


The league being run like the mafia (not to offend the mafia)

Nobody outside the league can watch the draft lottery

The refs answer only to Stern, who fines anyone who criticizes.

Players get fined for twittering something positive too soon after a win

Weird things happen like Pau Gasol getting traded for two prospects

They try to shut up refs that were able to predict with 80% accuracy the outcome of a game, but don't sue him for libel or defamation

Throw players out of major games when they barely violate a rule

Mercilessly screw fans in Seattle and expect people to just accept that

Double standards for players. If Lebron did what Spree did they'd probably kick the coach out of the league.

Star treatment by refs is an excellent one and probably fits into marketing the individual over the team.  The refs have got to put themselves above the stars when making calls, reminding themselves that each player should be equal in their eyes.  This in itself might bring some fans back.  The leauge (the game itself) should be bigger than the stars.  This is a tough one to overcome and I'm not saying it has to be perfect, but they've got to work on this....meanbwhile letting the home crowd fans be as angry as they want....

[fairweatherfan]

Nobody outside the league can watch the draft lottery

The lottery's actually been fully audited for years by an outside organization. 

1.  Marketing (individuals over teams)

It's interesting - this is definitely true, but I think the game itself is quickly moving away from the "1 superstar + role players" model.  I was just thinking the other night that the rapid descent of Iverson's career is pretty symbolic of a shift in NBA thinking from the Jordan model of a transcendent superstar to the Spurs model of team-first play and sustainable excellence.  But the marketing has definitely not caught up, which is a shame. 

[Eja117]

Nobody outside the league can watch the draft lottery

The lottery's actually been fully audited for years by an outside organization. 

1.  Marketing (individuals over teams)

It's interesting - this is definitely true, but I think the game itself is quickly moving away from the "1 superstar + role players" model.  I was just thinking the other night that the rapid descent of Iverson's career is pretty symbolic of a shift in NBA thinking from the Jordan model of a transcendent superstar to the Spurs model of team-first play and sustainable excellence.  But the marketing has definitely not caught up, which is a shame. 

Audited? By someone they hired?  No need for auditing if they televise it

[fairweatherfan]

Nobody outside the league can watch the draft lottery

The lottery's actually been fully audited for years by an outside organization. 

Audited? By someone they hired?  No need for auditing if they televise it

Who else would audit it, if not someone they hired?  A reputable 3rd party organization (can't find the name of them for the life of me) will still be impartial and certainly would not attach their name to a rigged process.  On the flip side, the range of things that could fool professional auditors is much, much narrower than the range of things that could fool a TV audience.  This way is much cleaner, if the organization is legitimate.

The main reason why they don't televise it is that only 3 picks are actually drawn, and in 1st-to-3rd order.  Very little drama there compared to how they reveal it on TV with a 30 minute buildup and lowest picks shown first.  I still think they need to go back to each team getting one ping-pong ball and all picks being drawn, though.


EDIT: Found it - a rep from Ernst & Young attends the lottery drawing; all ping-pong balls are certified, weighed and sized prior to the drawing.

[Eja117]

Nobody outside the league can watch the draft lottery

The lottery's actually been fully audited for years by an outside organization. 

Audited? By someone they hired?  No need for auditing if they televise it

Who else would audit it, if not someone they hired?  A reputable 3rd party organization (can't find the name of them for the life of me) will still be impartial and certainly would not attach their name to a rigged process.  On the flip side, the range of things that could fool professional auditors is much, much narrower than the range of things that could fool a TV audience.  This way is much cleaner, if the organization is legitimate.

The main reason why they don't televise it is that only 3 picks are actually drawn, and in 1st-to-3rd order.  Very little drama there compared to how they reveal it on TV with a 30 minute buildup and lowest picks shown first.  I still think they need to go back to each team getting one ping-pong ball and all picks being drawn, though.

They could allow the media and Bill Simmons in. I trust him over anyone they hire

[fairweatherfan]

Nobody outside the league can watch the draft lottery

The lottery's actually been fully audited for years by an outside organization. 

Audited? By someone they hired?  No need for auditing if they televise it

Who else would audit it, if not someone they hired?  A reputable 3rd party organization (can't find the name of them for the life of me) will still be impartial and certainly would not attach their name to a rigged process.  On the flip side, the range of things that could fool professional auditors is much, much narrower than the range of things that could fool a TV audience.  This way is much cleaner, if the organization is legitimate.

The main reason why they don't televise it is that only 3 picks are actually drawn, and in 1st-to-3rd order.  Very little drama there compared to how they reveal it on TV with a 30 minute buildup and lowest picks shown first.  I still think they need to go back to each team getting one ping-pong ball and all picks being drawn, though.

They could allow the media and Bill Simmons in. I trust him over anyone they hire

Ernst & Young is a major international auditing organization and are actually larger than the NBA itself; any gain they'd make by being bought off somehow would not be worth the huge damage to their reputation and business if they got caught up in a rigged drawing.  Also, team reps are there - wouldn't they have more cause than anyone to raise a stink if things look fishy?  The lottery is not rigged; if you think at all about how specifically it would have to be done there's simply no plausible way.

And if they let the media in, the order will leak out immediately and again they lose their little Lottery Show drama.

[Fafnir]

If Ernest and Young were doing anything fraudlent they'd be blackballed and lose their entire business. The NBA's lottery is legit, if overall a bad system.

I think the main reason we're seeing fans leave the NBA is prices and the economy. NBA games are one of the first things that people cut from their discretionary budget. I think they don't have the same deep rooted support that football does in this country.

[Eja117]

I'm fine with people thinking the lottery is legit.  In the mean time seeing is believing.

You don't have to buy off all of Earnst and Young, just the guys they send.

Aurther Andersen was a legit operation too. Where are they now? The mighty fall and the mighty can be corrupt. It happens. Lieing about something like the NBA lottery is nowhere near the crime that other crimes have been and that people have lost everything over and gone to jail for.

I just want to see it. Remove all doubt. Hiring an auditing firm doesn't do that. It's a help and I'm glad they do it, but still

[Fafnir]

In the mean time seeing is believing.

You don't have to buy off all of Earnst and Young, just the guys they send.

What exactly could you see that would convince you that the lottery is legit?

[Eja117]

In the mean time seeing is believing.

You don't have to buy off all of Earnst and Young, just the guys they send.

What exactly could you see that would convince you that the lottery is legit?

Fafnir, did you see that Ben Chappelle episode where he said in order to convict a rapper he would need to see video tape of the man committing the crime with the victim holding up two forms of ID and his mother there saying "That's my boy."

I admit I'm weird like that.

[fairweatherfan]

More on topic, I'm not sure that the NBA is losing fans overall - they're expanding rapidly into international markets, and as Simmons has pointed out, they're in a much better position demographically than baseball or hockey. 

Attendance is definitely slipping in some areas, but I think a lot of that is based on the economy - the crash happened last year after individuals had committed to season tickets and businesses to luxury suites.  The effects of the crash are mainly gonna be on this year's receipts. 

[Fafnir]

More on topic, I'm not sure that the NBA is losing fans overall - they're expanding rapidly into international markets, and as Simmons has pointed out, they're in a much better position demographically than baseball or hockey. 

Attendance is definitely slipping in some areas, but I think a lot of that is based on the economy - the crash happened last year after individuals had committed to season tickets and businesses to luxury suites.  The effects of the crash are mainly gonna be on this year's receipts. 

Yes, though I still think the league's current financial structure is screwy. The luxury tax forces competitive teams in all but the best financial situations to lose money.

The NBA is on shaky ground in my mind right now, luckily their current crop of stars seems to be a great one. That should carry the NBA through any labor troubles and the current financial downturn.

[fairweatherfan]

More on topic, I'm not sure that the NBA is losing fans overall - they're expanding rapidly into international markets, and as Simmons has pointed out, they're in a much better position demographically than baseball or hockey. 

Attendance is definitely slipping in some areas, but I think a lot of that is based on the economy - the crash happened last year after individuals had committed to season tickets and businesses to luxury suites.  The effects of the crash are mainly gonna be on this year's receipts. 

Yes, though I still think the league's current financial structure is screwy. The luxury tax forces competitive teams in all but the best financial situations to lose money.

True - I don't mind the overall idea of the luxury tax, but the ceiling should be raised or the tax should be tiered somehow to avoid the current rash of teams crippling their competitiveness to avoid it.  The flipside too is that guys like Donald Sterling get a large financial incentive to keeping payrolls low instead of striving to be competitive.  Unfortunately I don't know if it'll get any better with the next CBA.