Charles Barkley urges Adam Silver to make 1 major change amid NBA's rating woes
Charles Barkley has said a few times this season that the NBA has to do something to address its ratings drop. Barkley previously said on "The Dan Patrick Show" that load management and too many 3-point attempts have turned off fans. The Hall of Famer was worried about the future if Commissioner Adam Silver did not respond to the issue.
Barkley returned to the show on Wednesday to talk basketball again. When asked about a concrete step to improve the league's ratings, the former MVP said:
"I think we need to seriously consider starting on Christmas because listen you're wasting your time going up against the NFL and College Football, they own the weekends now.
“If we start at Christmas, there’s no other sports that we have to compete with. College Football would be over, pro football is winding down, we’d have the entire calendar, late December, January, February, March, April, May, June to ourself," he added.
(from 3:56 mark onwards)
As per Sports Media Watch, NBA ratings are down 48% since 2012. The In-Season Tournament, which ended with the Milwaukee Bucks winning the championship this year, dropped 10% compared to its debut last season.
The NBA Finals, the highlight of the season, has limped in the ratings as well. Over the past three decades, the last four championship rounds have been at the bottom of the viewership table.
Barkley further emphasized:
“The most important thing of the game is the fans. If they’re not watching, you can’t keep your head in the sand. You gotta ask, ‘What are we doing wrong?’"
(from 1:32 mark onwards)
Charles Barkley added that he is open to any suggestions from anybody. He is hoping that the season starting around Christmas would help boost the ratings.
Charles Barkley said that the NBA has become a 3-point shooting contest
The 11-time All-Star gave one reason fans have lost interest in NBA games. As a player and later an analyst for "Inside the NBA" for years, Barkley’s opinion and observation carry serious weight.
Here’s what Barkley had to say about today’s game:
“In one of the games, I watched the Warriors play the Mavericks. It was one of the worst games I've seen. I think it was 140-130. They just went up and down the court and shot 3s. I was like, ‘Man, this is awful to watch.’
"We’re just having a 3-point shooting contest every night. I think we gotta figure out something," he added.
(from 1:03 mark onwards)
Commissioner Adam Silver recently announced a new format for the All-Star game. Barkley is not sure how that change will pan out and how it will affect the viewership for the rest of the season. The Hall of Famer is seemingly willing to try anything to prevent the NBA from sliding further down in popularity among sports fans.
What do you think of Charles Barkley's suggestion? Should the NBA look to change its schedule to try and increase its ratings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.