photo provided by the Associated Press
It’s March Madness, baby, and television ratings for the upset-filled NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament have been (to paraphrase Dick Vitale) super scintillating sensational! Meanwhile in the NBA – the highest level of basketball – ratings are slightly down, and have been trending down for a while.
Why? It’s not because NCAA players are better…they aren’t. It’s because NCAA games are unpredictable. Every year, the tournament features scores of shocking upsets and unknown players who become “names” overnight – if only for a week or two. The fact that those Cinderella teams and players might never be particularly famous in the long term doesn’t matter to the popularity of the event or its TV appeal. The event and the game are bigger than the stars.
The NBA, on the other hand, heavily promotes individual players, on the theory that people pay to see stars, not necessarily teams. Call it the Michael Jordan effect. This star-oriented approach goes beyond marketing; it has long been understood that referees give big name players preferential treatment. Thus, A-listers like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James consistently have great games, their teams consistently win and they become consistently big draws…or so the thinking goes. While the star system is certainly a tried-and-true formula, I think a lot of fans see it for what it is and are turned off – and are turning their TV sets off as well. To a cynic like me, it’s almost like watching professional wrestling. The NBA’s caste system is particularly annoying if you are a fan of a “no-star” team in a small market city. In effect, the stars have become bigger than the game.
My pipedream du jour would be for Commissioner David Stern to reprioritize the NBA’s approach and once again make the game bigger than the stars. Let surprising new up-and-comers (like the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings and John Salmons) get the same treatment as Kobe, LeBron, DWade and the other marquee names. If that leads to upsets, all the better. That’s exactly why the NCAA tournament became known as “March Madness.” The NBA, too, could be awesome, baby!
March 29th, 2010 at 10:27 am
I’m willing to bet the majority of viewers are a part of the student body or alumni for the 65 teams that participated. And, if not, they know people who are. Also,the majority of guys who are on the final four teams will never play professional basketball, so their talent is not as awe inspiring as an NBA All Star. Add in the fact that upsets are more frequent in a tournament setting instead of a playoff; it gives some the illusion of the NCAA being “fair” and “just”. Personally, I’d rather have the NBA. I enjoy watching professional sports over their amateur counterparts for the fact that I watch sports to see the amazing…Escapism at its finest.
March 29th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Well, to each their own. No argument – NBA players are better. I would take your bet on the TV audience being mainly students or alums, though. I haven’t seen the newest Nielsons but the ratings for the first round games were huge.
March 29th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
And you would definitely collect on that bet because there is no way that the majority of viewers have some sort of ties to the participants in the tourney…bit of an over reach on my part. I know I watched the first round and I didn’t graduate from any of the universities participating.
There is a part of me that misses college basketball when the championship teams had mega stars. The Wooden era UCLA teams with Alcindor and later Walton. The Tar Heels team with Jordan. The Magic Johnson lead Spartans as another example. Don’t get me wrong, I like an underdog as much as the next person, but I find it more compelling when Cinderella is escorted to the big dance by Larry Bird.
March 29th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
LOL! Agree there is a lot of appeal in heavyweight showdowns, too. Bird-Magic had both things going — it was big school vs. small school but also they were clearly the two best college players anywhere. And there was the city guy vs. “Hick from French Lick” angle, too. Pretty unique.
(Go Butler!)
March 30th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Relative to the NCAA Tournament and Cinderellas, I found this particularly interesting:
An estimated $677,474,659 in free media was earned by George Mason during the 2006 NCAA Tournament through national, regional and local broadcast (including games), print and electronic media coverage.
http://eagle.gmu.edu/newsroom/670/
March 30th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Wow! And admissions went up 350%…and alumni donations…and on and on. It pays to be Cinderella, BABY! Great post!
April 1st, 2010 at 8:28 am
Milwaukee Bucks played LeBron’s Cleveland Cavs last night. Everything about the game was close, exept the free throw stats: Cleveland shot 45 of them, including 13 for LeBron. The Bucks as a team shot 9 total. Guess who won?