The NBA has gone to great lengths to boost ratings.
The first NBA 2023-2024 midseason Championship (hereinafter referred to as the midseason) came to an end, with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the championship with a 123-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers, and lebron James winning the MVP award. The Lakers also received generous bonuses of $500,000 per coach and player, and $250,000 for two-way players.
The NBA announced the first midseason team of the year, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, lebron James, Tyreese Halliburton with 20 votes, Kevin Durant received seven votes to be fifth.
The NBA's first midseason game, which lasted from November 4 to December 10, was not initially favored by everyone, but actually increased ratings.
According to figures provided by the NBA, the average audience is up 12% from the same period last year; The average audience for the semifinals was 1.88 million, up 50 percent year-on-year. Among them, the Pelicans and Lakers semifinals averaged 2.17 million viewers per game, an increase of 73 percent over last season.
Outside of the All-Star Game, NBA games are generally divided into four parts: preseason, regular season, playoffs and finals. The regular season is held from late October to mid-April.
That is to say, the regular season is held in November and December, the difference is that the NBA will set the regular season in November as a championship, and determine the eight teams to enter the single-elimination tournament held in December, the remaining 22 teams return to the normal regular season, and the two teams that entered the final will play one more mid-season final on the basis of the regular season.
All the results of the midseason games except the finals are counted in the NBA regular season results, so at the beginning, when the NBA announced the introduction of the midseason game, some fans doubted that the midseason game was just a new name and added a few games.
In terms of the specific package, the midseason game is not just a new name and an additional game. The first is the generous bonus, this season, the champion team each player can get a bonus of $500,000, the runner-up team is $200,000 each, the top four teams, the top eight teams each have $100,000, $50,000.
The second is the change of the competition system, the introduction of the net score mechanism and the "Wild Card" mechanism in the group stage, which means that every point in the game is very important, even if the situation has been won, the team still needs to go all out to expand the advantage. In addition, a single-elimination format was introduced for the mid-season tournament.
This series of measures increased the contingency of the game, but also promoted the enthusiasm of the players, making the game antagonistic, intense and suspense compared with the previous regular season has been improved.
The origin of the NBA's midseason games is to increase ratings and attention. With the rise of short videos, the audience's viewing habits have become fragmented, and the attractiveness of long-term live games has declined.
According to US media reports, in the 2019-2020 season, NBA TV ratings were impacted, and the ratings of ESPN, the two major US live TV stations, fell by 20% compared with last season, and the ratings of TNT TV fell by 23% compared with last season. The 2020-2021 season averaged 1.32 million viewers on ABC, ESPN and TNT, down 25 percent from the 1.75 million viewers in 2018-19.
The NBA faces the question of how to add some elements to the long regular season that will stimulate viewers to watch.
In fact, as early as 2014, the midseason game has appeared in the NBA's concept, this year to achieve the real landing, in addition to the purpose of boosting ratings, and the NBA is about to enter the negotiation of a new broadcast contract, the NBA needs a new "card" at the negotiating table.
As we all know, the NBA's current broadcast contract will expire at the end of the 2024-2025 season, and the NBA needs a new growth point to increase the bargaining leverage, and the midseason game is the chosen growth point.
It is reported that since the birth of the BAA, the predecessor of the NBA, the regular season plus playoffs is a fixed system, which has basically not changed for more than 70 years.
The midseason tournament is a new phenomenon, subverting the traditional NBA format.
However, subversion was not understood and accepted by all people at the beginning. The midseason competition was initially met with some controversy, with some questioning the value of the competition, and some arguing that the additional competition goals would increase the burden on players and pose a threat to their health.
In response to the above questions, the NBA responded by arranging the midseason games by adding the outcome of the midseason championship to the record of the regular season, and each team still maintained 82 regular games, and only the championship and runner-up teams would play 83 games because of the finals.
Moreover, a $500,000 bonus is not a small sum for a player on a basic salary. Moreover, midseason matches provide a showcase for young players and grassroots teams.
In terms of hardware facilities, the NBA introduced full-painted floors in the arena for the first time, breaking the original visual effect, and each team has a unique court floor design.
The high quality of the game and the enthusiasm of the audience are two flywheels driven by each other, NBA China said, for the league, the increase in viewership, attendance and fan engagement has added gold to the midseason game.
The NBA has activated the audience attention and participation of the NBA "off-season" regular season with the new competition system, adding chips to the negotiation of the broadcast rights of the event, and the ultimate goal is to the competitiveness of the commercial market. The midseason games provide new lessons for the industry.
