5 Reasons the NFL is more popular than the NBA (via BlazersEdge)

[D.o.s.]

Quickly: Schedule, Rooting for teams--rather than players, better rivalries,  "The NBA is too black", "The NBA is too fake."

http://www.blazersedge.com/2013/9/9/4711632/nba-nfl-popular

Those last two are pretty interesting.

America has accepted tacitly for years that Caucasians are a minority in professional sports.  White athletes are marketed more prominently than their African-American counterparts (Quick!  Name 4 NFL players off the top of your head!) but glitz and hype can't cover the fact that professional sports rosters are heavily populated with ethnic minorities.

Athletes in the other two major American sports wear body-length uniforms with some kind of head covering.  You can tell the ethnicity of a given athlete, of course, but NFL players are 98% uniform and 2% skin.  MLB is not that far behind with visor-heavy headgear, gloves, and equipment.

NBA players are out there for the world to see.  They're essentially playing in over-sized underwear.  You can't mistake it.  These guys are African-American.

The NBA became a major media phenomenon on the backs of three players:  Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan.  All three were marketed in alignment with the predominant culture.  Bird was white and had an easy in.  But what do you remember of Magic and Jordan?  Magic presented a broad, smiling face whenever the cameras rolled.  Michael rose to pop culture fame on the back of a Gatorade jingle.  I am not suggesting that either image was inauthentic, let alone outside the circle of African-American culture.  Both men were, and are, African-American.  But any parts of their make-up that went beyond their commercially-appealing image did not make the national airwaves.  Spike Lee movies aside, we were still in the era where the commercial face of "African-American" didn't scan as different, an era where racial equality meant saying, "Hey...we're all the same (meaning in accordance with the dominant culture) after all."  Sometimes I dream...that he is me...

As our culture moved forward into a new millennium so did our understanding, and expression, of culture.  Jordan's jingles gave way to hip-hop, varying hairstyles and clothing styles, and ever-more-prominent tattoos.  Racial sensibility changed from "we're all the same" to, "No, I'm different.  Respect that."

Some folks have gotten on board with that.  Some folks have embraced it.  Others see it as a threat.  A substantial portion of the population seems to fall into the category of, "That's all fine, but I don't want to be bothered with it in my entertainment choices.  I'm just here to enjoy.  Don't disturb my narrative.  Let me watch my movie or listen to my radio or watch my team in peace without having to deal with you being different."  In the face of that impulse we have:

NFL?  98% uniform coverage.  Most of the public figureheads and guys interviewed on TV are coaches or white players.  No problem at all.  Go Packers!!!

MLB?  90% uniform coverage.  Organs playing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the stretch.  Nothing much is going to change here.

NBA?  Oh...my...God.  Tattoos!  Hairstyles!  Hip-hop culture everywhere!  What happened?  Why do they do that?

When people find out that I write about the league they often talk about their perceptions of it.  One oft-repeated story runs, "I used to like pro basketball back when [insert former star from the 80's or 90's] played but nowadays it's all selfish play, loud music, etc. [insert grimace here]."   Though it reads racist, that's not the intent.  I would wager that to a person, they'd say that they support racial tolerance even if they're uncomfortable with some of its manifestations.  Rather they're reacting to the NBA the same way they react to turning on their comfortable FM popular music station and finding rap getting airplay.  "Augh!  What's that? Where are the Eagles and The Temptations?" [flip station]   Even if they think racial tolerance is an important goal, folks just aren't comfortable disrupting their "private" entertainment choices for it, or even having the two concepts mix much.

Sports are entertainment.  Every league makes choices that balance the tradition/integrity of the sport with its entertainment value to the public.  Of the three major U.S. sports leagues, the NBA is perceived as the most willing to sacrifice integrity to attract viewers...and this in a race with Major League Baseball and its full-fledged, home-run heavy steroid era.

Every league is accused of having bad referees.  No league is suspected of actually cooking the books, using refs to obtain desired outcomes for favored teams, like the NBA is.

Every league has star players, marketed and protected.  No league markets its superstars more heavily, depending on them so much.  No league is accused of having such a strong "star system" in place where the rules actually bend for favored players.  I say "accused", but is it even a question anymore?  Don't most people just accept that superstars will get calls that other players will not?

Every league has marquee matchups.  No league bows to those matchups more than the NBA, particularly in their playoff coverage.  If the best basketball is being played between Milwaukee and Cleveland but the Lakers and Mavericks are on the air, most of America won't know that Milwaukee and Cleveland exist.  Who cares if the play is second-rate as long as the right names appear in the TV Guide?

The instant the NBA instituted a lottery they were accused of fixing it.

David Stern is spoken of as a history-making Commissioner and a really smart guy.  He's also painted as the master manipulator willing to bend any kind of rule in order to achieve his desired outcome...Vince McMahon in a legitimate sport.

Each of these points contains veracity and falsehood.  Those are less important than the fact that nothing I just said was a surprise to you.  These perceptions are common knowledge, attached irrevocably to the NBA name.  It's sports.  It's entertainment.  Which will predominate?  Honestly, people aren't always sure.

Plenty of institutions walk the line between reality and show.  Most of television qualifies nowadays, including the news.  But that line brings with in an inherent transience.  Institutions with substance get passed on from generation to generation.  It doesn't matter how much actual integrity the institution has as long as it can be called integral.  "Our family is Republican," or, "We've farmed this land for four generations," or, "We drive Chevy Trucks" can all form solid roots for a family tree.  But entertainment never gets passed on from generation to generation.  How many children listen to their dad's music or watch their mom's TV shows and say, "This is the best thing ever and I will adopt it for my own, forever"?

To the extent an NBA franchise is whole, integral, attached to something permanent that you can trust, it can be passed on.  "The Trail Blazers are God's team, son.  The Lakers are pure evil."  It doesn't matter if those statements are empirically true.  If the league structure around those two teams remains sound and they continue to compete in fair fashion we are free to build our own meaning into the exercise and make it mean more than it otherwise would have.  As soon as that integrity fails, so does our ability to build on it and pass it on.  "Things are kind of rigged here to favor certain teams but I grew up watching the Trail Blazers, son, and it's a fun game to watch anyway!"  That's not going to transfer to the next generation.

Thoughts?

[Kiorrik]

Thoughts?

Fits with the American stereotype.

It's how much of the world sees you guys. It's not just America where (subconscious) racism still lives, but it's not just the Netherlands where Tulips grow either.

Unfortunate, but there it is.

[fitzhickey]

Thoughts?

Fits with the American stereotype.

It's how much of the world sees you guys. It's not just America where (subconscious) racism still lives, but it's not just the Netherlands where Tulips grow either.

Unfortunate, but there it is.

Yeah I'm not from US and that is how many Aussies see you guys.
but Aussies are very racist so I won't comment

[D.o.s.]

You guys don't have anything to say about the idea that the nature of the fairness of the game being overtly tarnished?

[fitzhickey]

You guys don't have anything to say about the idea that the nature of the fairness of the game being overtly tarnished?

I don't get to see nearly as many games as you guys would but when I do the refereeing quality is abysmal. The Vince McMahon comparison just for a legit sport.
As I said I don't encounter Stern's faults as often as you guys.

[Kiorrik]

You guys don't have anything to say about the idea that the nature of the fairness of the game being overtly tarnished?

I'll confess, I didn't read past that whole first quote. Read the quote, then responded.

After skimming through the second quote, I don't really feel like commenting on that, indeed.

Mainly because discussions like that are a bit like discussions about religion between believers and non-believers. Thus, it doesn't even matter anymore on which side of the fence I fall on this matter.

It's there, so I'll deal with it. Mostly by swearing like a sailor.

[wdleehi]

I disagree.


I like to watch football more then basketball.


I liked to play football more then basketball.  (no longer get to do that anymore)




As for the race card, the NFL is a quarterback league.  The top quarterbacks get all the attention.  That past couple of years, players like McNabb retired and Vick got into trouble.  In the future, RG III mania is in full swing in DC. 

[greg683x]

I disagree.


I like to watch football more then basketball.


I liked to play football more then basketball.  (no longer get to do that anymore)




As for the race card, the NFL is a quarterback league.  The top quarterbacks get all the attention.  That past couple of years, players like McNabb retired and Vick got into trouble.  In the future, RG III mania is in full swing in DC.

ehh I kinda disagree with the QB league argument.  If RG3 were a running back and redskins went to the playoffs on his back, people would be going just as crazy about him.  Which is why I would say that Adrian Peterson is just as popular now if not more popular than players like Brees and Rodgers.  Calvin Johnson gets just as much attention as well, in fact if you go to espn his face on a giant ad is probably the first thing you'll see.  Impact players get attention in the NFL, it's not limited to just QBs.  Yeah, Wilson, Luck, and Griffin got a lot of attention last year, but how often to three rookies come in and have flawless years like that?  Id think it would have been just as much of a hot topic in the league if they were 3 rookie RBs all competing for the rushing title at the end of the year while leading their team to the playoffs.

just my opinion.

[Celtics18]

Sometimes it feels to me as if basketball is turning into something of a fringe sport.  That doesn't bother me, at all.  I kind of like being on the fringes. 

When I meet someone who shares a true passion for hoops, it's exciting.  I feel like everybody claims to be passionate about football. 

[guava_wrench]

You guys don't have anything to say about the idea that the nature of the fairness of the game being overtly tarnished?

I think that this is mostly in the heads of the fans. Excuse making. Also, international soccer seems to show that blaming refs doesn't hurt popularity.

[guava_wrench]

I disagree.


I like to watch football more then basketball.


I liked to play football more then basketball.  (no longer get to do that anymore)




As for the race card, the NFL is a quarterback league.  The top quarterbacks get all the attention.  That past couple of years, players like McNabb retired and Vick got into trouble.  In the future, RG III mania is in full swing in DC.

ehh I kinda disagree with the QB league argument.  If RG3 were a running back and redskins went to the playoffs on his back, people would be going just as crazy about him.  Which is why I would say that Adrian Peterson is just as popular now if not more popular than players like Brees and Rodgers.  Calvin Johnson gets just as much attention as well, in fact if you go to espn his face on a giant ad is probably the first thing you'll see.  Impact players get attention in the NFL, it's not limited to just QBs.  Yeah, Wilson, Luck, and Griffin got a lot of attention last year, but how often to three rookies come in and have flawless years like that?  Id think it would have been just as much of a hot topic in the league if they were 3 rookie RBs all competing for the rushing title at the end of the year while leading their team to the playoffs.

just my opinion.

I really doubt that RBs would have the same impact. So many are here today, gone tomorrow. I suspect you are in the minority in thinking that RBs can create the same hype. Even QBs that are just above average get tons of press. Every rookie QB that was decent last season was constantly being talked about as the future of their franchise.

ADP is popular due to coming back from injury, fantasy football, and his ridiculous year. But no other running back creates near the buzz as the top five (or even more) QBs.

[staticcc]

This is only for North America right?

Everywhere else in the world: NBA > NFL

[BballTim]

Quickly: Schedule, Rooting for teams--rather than players, better rivalries,  "The NBA is too black", "The NBA is too fake."

http://www.blazersedge.com/2013/9/9/4711632/nba-nfl-popular

Those last two are pretty interesting.

America has accepted tacitly for years that Caucasians are a minority in professional sports.  White athletes are marketed more prominently than their African-American counterparts (Quick!  Name 4 NFL players off the top of your head!) but glitz and hype can't cover the fact that professional sports rosters are heavily populated with ethnic minorities.

Athletes in the other two major American sports wear body-length uniforms with some kind of head covering.  You can tell the ethnicity of a given athlete, of course, but NFL players are 98% uniform and 2% skin.  MLB is not that far behind with visor-heavy headgear, gloves, and equipment.

NBA players are out there for the world to see.  They're essentially playing in over-sized underwear.  You can't mistake it.  These guys are African-American.

The NBA became a major media phenomenon on the backs of three players:  Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan.  All three were marketed in alignment with the predominant culture.  Bird was white and had an easy in.  But what do you remember of Magic and Jordan?  Magic presented a broad, smiling face whenever the cameras rolled.  Michael rose to pop culture fame on the back of a Gatorade jingle.  I am not suggesting that either image was inauthentic, let alone outside the circle of African-American culture.  Both men were, and are, African-American.  But any parts of their make-up that went beyond their commercially-appealing image did not make the national airwaves.  Spike Lee movies aside, we were still in the era where the commercial face of "African-American" didn't scan as different, an era where racial equality meant saying, "Hey...we're all the same (meaning in accordance with the dominant culture) after all."  Sometimes I dream...that he is me...

As our culture moved forward into a new millennium so did our understanding, and expression, of culture.  Jordan's jingles gave way to hip-hop, varying hairstyles and clothing styles, and ever-more-prominent tattoos.  Racial sensibility changed from "we're all the same" to, "No, I'm different.  Respect that."

Some folks have gotten on board with that.  Some folks have embraced it.  Others see it as a threat.  A substantial portion of the population seems to fall into the category of, "That's all fine, but I don't want to be bothered with it in my entertainment choices.  I'm just here to enjoy.  Don't disturb my narrative.  Let me watch my movie or listen to my radio or watch my team in peace without having to deal with you being different."  In the face of that impulse we have:

NFL?  98% uniform coverage.  Most of the public figureheads and guys interviewed on TV are coaches or white players.  No problem at all.  Go Packers!!!

MLB?  90% uniform coverage.  Organs playing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the stretch.  Nothing much is going to change here.

NBA?  Oh...my...God.  Tattoos!  Hairstyles!  Hip-hop culture everywhere!  What happened?  Why do they do that?

When people find out that I write about the league they often talk about their perceptions of it.  One oft-repeated story runs, "I used to like pro basketball back when [insert former star from the 80's or 90's] played but nowadays it's all selfish play, loud music, etc. [insert grimace here]."   Though it reads racist, that's not the intent.  I would wager that to a person, they'd say that they support racial tolerance even if they're uncomfortable with some of its manifestations.  Rather they're reacting to the NBA the same way they react to turning on their comfortable FM popular music station and finding rap getting airplay.  "Augh!  What's that? Where are the Eagles and The Temptations?" [flip station]   Even if they think racial tolerance is an important goal, folks just aren't comfortable disrupting their "private" entertainment choices for it, or even having the two concepts mix much.

Sports are entertainment.  Every league makes choices that balance the tradition/integrity of the sport with its entertainment value to the public.  Of the three major U.S. sports leagues, the NBA is perceived as the most willing to sacrifice integrity to attract viewers...and this in a race with Major League Baseball and its full-fledged, home-run heavy steroid era.

Every league is accused of having bad referees.  No league is suspected of actually cooking the books, using refs to obtain desired outcomes for favored teams, like the NBA is.

Every league has star players, marketed and protected.  No league markets its superstars more heavily, depending on them so much.  No league is accused of having such a strong "star system" in place where the rules actually bend for favored players.  I say "accused", but is it even a question anymore?  Don't most people just accept that superstars will get calls that other players will not?

Every league has marquee matchups.  No league bows to those matchups more than the NBA, particularly in their playoff coverage.  If the best basketball is being played between Milwaukee and Cleveland but the Lakers and Mavericks are on the air, most of America won't know that Milwaukee and Cleveland exist.  Who cares if the play is second-rate as long as the right names appear in the TV Guide?

The instant the NBA instituted a lottery they were accused of fixing it.

David Stern is spoken of as a history-making Commissioner and a really smart guy.  He's also painted as the master manipulator willing to bend any kind of rule in order to achieve his desired outcome...Vince McMahon in a legitimate sport.

Each of these points contains veracity and falsehood.  Those are less important than the fact that nothing I just said was a surprise to you.  These perceptions are common knowledge, attached irrevocably to the NBA name.  It's sports.  It's entertainment.  Which will predominate?  Honestly, people aren't always sure.

Plenty of institutions walk the line between reality and show.  Most of television qualifies nowadays, including the news.  But that line brings with in an inherent transience.  Institutions with substance get passed on from generation to generation.  It doesn't matter how much actual integrity the institution has as long as it can be called integral.  "Our family is Republican," or, "We've farmed this land for four generations," or, "We drive Chevy Trucks" can all form solid roots for a family tree.  But entertainment never gets passed on from generation to generation.  How many children listen to their dad's music or watch their mom's TV shows and say, "This is the best thing ever and I will adopt it for my own, forever"?

To the extent an NBA franchise is whole, integral, attached to something permanent that you can trust, it can be passed on.  "The Trail Blazers are God's team, son.  The Lakers are pure evil."  It doesn't matter if those statements are empirically true.  If the league structure around those two teams remains sound and they continue to compete in fair fashion we are free to build our own meaning into the exercise and make it mean more than it otherwise would have.  As soon as that integrity fails, so does our ability to build on it and pass it on.  "Things are kind of rigged here to favor certain teams but I grew up watching the Trail Blazers, son, and it's a fun game to watch anyway!"  That's not going to transfer to the next generation.

Thoughts?

  The second one's fairly accurate, the first one's total nonsense.

[CelticG1]

The NBA does feel like it gets worse and worse every year to me in a lot of ways.

Rule changes and refereeing year after year get worse and worse. Yeah it may have always been somewhat bad but now every hard foul is a flagrant, guys get suspended for small infractions, guys can't say anything about the league unless its in a positive light. Its just so PG and cartoonish.

I remember hearing Bernard Pollard on 98.5 last year RIPPING Goodell and the league with passion during the referee lock out or whatever when they had replacement refs. It was just raw and straight passion coming from him. So refreshing to hear stuff like that.

I think the in game experience has become pretty terrible too. For me if my mom who hates basketball, has no interest in the team and has a great time at a Celtics game? Its like they are targeting such a wide flakey audience but lose out on foundational fans.

We don't need to hear music every time down the court, we don't need sound bumping tonlet us know to chant defense and we don't need a screen telling us when and how loud to cheer.

Although every sport has drifted to this style a bit, nothing comes close to the NBA.

Its such a pleasure watching a Football, Hockey, Baseball or Soccer game where its just the sound of the actual game being played with no distractions.

[KGs Knee]

To claim that racial motivation is the reason the NFL is bigger than the NBA is just nuts.

I love me some basketball, but the NFL is just more entertaining and has built in advantages (only played once a week, betting, competitive balance) that no other North American sport can compete with.