This season has been one of the worst viewership seasons for the NBA, and it has
become a big problem. Why the sudden decrease?
Since 2012, the viewership in the NBA has had a slow but steady decline. For the past
three years, the NBA viewership has gone down a tremendous amount. The 2025 All-Star Game was rated the second lowest viewed all-star game in history and the only one close to that was the 2023 All-Star Game. Many analysts and fans blame this issue on a wide range of things.
For one, marketing in the NBA has gone downhill in a spiral. As stated in a report by
Grayson Sampson of The Eagle, “if there is a team that is not nationally televised that one would like to watch, the only reliable way to do that is to buy NBA league pass which costs around $16.99-24.99 a month. This makes it very difficult for some individuals to watch the NBA, especially teams that are not local.” Teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers have resorted to their fans needing to pay a monthly or yearly subscription with Bally Sports, to watch their local favourite team.
Figure 1. The partnership of Bally Sports and the NBA as the Cleveland Cavaliers are ready to
showcase games with streaming services.
The NBA also has a huge problem with not promoting young talent. The Los Angeles
Lakers have the most nationally televised games this season, after coming up short last year, and still being a mediocre team in the NBA today. The Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder are statically the two top teams in the NBA, and they have nowhere near the amount of nationally televised games. In an interview with Derrick Jones from the College of Wooster he stated, “There are teams that are not good that are being highlighted on television, and I just don’t find that enjoyable to watch”.
The NBA has announced this as a major problem, and they plan on resolving this issue
one way or another. They identify issues such as marketing, referring, and gameplay as dictators to why the viewership is declining. Adam Silver addressed after the all-star game that he plans to add new events to increase the productivity of the events and to increase viewership as well. Adam Silver stated during his press conference, “His reaction was, ‘Do I think there’s too much three-point shooting? Possibly, yes. “
References
Aschburner, S. (2025, February 16). NBA commissioner Adam Silver addresses the media before
All-Star Weekend. Nba.com; NBA.com. https://www.nba.com/news/adam-silver-news-
conference-2025-all-star-weekend
clenadams. (2014). NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Bans Donald Sterling for
Life. @Cavaliers. https://doi.org/10612739/2022/03/
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Friend, T. (2025, February 13). NBA viewership is down 5%, but trending up. Sports Business
Journal. https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.
com/Articles/2025/02/12/nba-viewership-
down-6/
Salao, C. (2025, February 19). NBA All-Star Game Ratings: Second-Least-Watched Ever, Down
13%. Front Office Sports. https://frontofficesports.com/nba-all-star-game-ratings-second-
least-watched-ever-down-13/
Sampson, G. (2023). Why are the NBA ratings declining? The Eagle.
https://gohsonline.com/8704/sports
/why-are-the-nba-ratings-declining/
Svoboda, D. (2025, February 19). NBA All-Star Game ratings nearly matched their worst ever.
New York Post. https://nypost.com/2025/02/19/
sports/nba-all-star-game-ratings-nearly-
matched-their-worst-ever/
Taylor, A. (2025, January 27). What is behind the NBA’s falling viewership numbers? Yahoo
Sports. https://sports.yahoo.com/behind-nbas-falling-viewership-numbers-
173555870.html
