The NFL is dominating the NBA in terms of entertainment value
In the NFL, anything can happen. Last year, fans saw veteran quarterback Matthew Stanford finally climb the mountain and win his first Super Bowl. Budding superstar Joe Burrow made his first Super Bowl appearance in 2022 and will look to win it all this season. Tom Brady still reigns supreme after being voted the best player in the league by his peers yet again, even at 45 years old. Impact players like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce aim to regain their spot at the top of the league.
The star-studded Buffalo Bills are the new team to beat in the AFC. The NFC is up for grabs as the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, and Philadelphia Eagles all look like viable candidates to win it all. Fans around the country are brimming with excitement and ready to support their teams.
Meanwhile, in the NBA, nothing’s really happening. The drama around Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant ended with him staying put. James Harden, who was once the main topic of conversation in the basketball world, remains with the painfully forgettable Philadelphia 76ers.
Superstar LeBron James is on a Los Angeles Lakers roster that is flooded with aging, injury-prone players, all past their prime. Perhaps the most interesting occurrence this NBA offseason was Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell’s move to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The NBA playoffs have been underwhelming in recent times
Neither the Western nor Eastern Conference offers particularly exciting races to watch come playoff time. Last year's playoffs was a slow and arduous experience - a phenomenon that will likely be repeated this year. If there is anything the last few years in the sports world have taught us, it’s that the NFL is far more entertaining than the NBA.
The NBA has become a shade of its former self. Gone are the days of epic showdowns between the Miami Heat’s “Big Three” and the championship-tenured San Antonio Spurs featuring a young Kawhi Leonard. Fans no longer get to enjoy watching Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden all play in tandem with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Where is the heart-pounding atmosphere of the 2016 finals between the underdog Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors.
Today, professional basketball is stale and predictable. Fans across the league knew that Golden State would win the championship this year with their roster fully healthy. Despite being arguably the greatest player of all time, LeBron James doesn’t have any real opportunity to take his Lakers very far anymore.
Basketball relies on superstars to make the game interesting. Today, the NBA’s best players are all aging rapidly before our eyes. LeBron is 37, Stephen Curry is 34. Kevin Durant turns 34 on September 29, and Anthony Davis is riddled with injuries at the age of 29. One could argue - what about the game’s rising stars?
They bring energy to the league. It’s true, talented players like Luka Dončić and Trae Young are entertaining to watch, but they lack the necessary supporting cast to be truly successful and perform their best. Zion Williamson has been a rising star surrounded by hype, but he’s been too injury prone to play. LaMelo Ball has the potential to be a superstar, but as a member of the Charlotte Hornets, he’s in too small a market to make the game interesting.
The NFL's storylines and format make it more entertaining
The NFL is loaded with interesting storylines that keep viewers tuning in. Will Russell Wilson succeed in Denver? Is Patrick Mahomes the talent we thought he was? Can Tom Brady get another ring? Are the Rams a one-and-done team? Can the Dallas Cowboys make a deep playoff run? What will Aaron Rodgers’s future look like after this season? Is Baker Mayfield the future in Carolina? What are the Cleveland Browns doing? All these questions are out in the open for fans to speculate on as the new season picks up steam.
Beyond the intrigue the NFL provides, football offers a far more watchable layout. Fans can keep up with the weekly pacing of NFL games far better than having to follow the near-daily grind of an 82-game NBA season. Viewers can dedicate their Sundays to watching the NFL and tune into the Monday and Thursday night games if the matchups are appealing.
NBA fans, on the other hand, have to find a local station or pay for a streaming service in order to watch multiple games throughout the week; it quickly becomes too much to digest. Football fans can come together to tailgate before games and can participate in fantasy football leagues. Through these mediums, the NFL becomes a league that all Americans can come together over.
Viewership speaks louder than words. The 2022 Super Bowl netted over 208 million viewers, while the 2022 NBA Finals averaged only 12.5 million viewers throughout the series. The Super Bowl is a national tradition. The NBA Finals have become a novelty that warrants an occasional ESPN score check every now and then. Fans spend weeks and months preparing for the Super Bowl, and the NBA Finals are an afterthought for the majority of modern sports viewers.
Money speaks louder than words. NFL teams have far more money invested into them than NBA teams do. The average worth of an NFL team is $4.14 billion dollars, while the average NBA team is worth only $2.58 billion. The Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable sports team in the world, worth $5.7 billion.
The NFL has completely dwarfed the NBA in watchability, fan engagement, and overall value. Enjoying football is a community experience, enhanced by manageable doses of weekly entertainment. The 2022 NFL season is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing years yet; the upcoming NBA season will almost certainly be an underwhelming affair.