While the NFL is the most popular sports league in America, its players don't control the culture as basketball players do. The NBA is one of the most popular sports leagues in the entire world and continues to grow internationally. Despite this, it appears as though this season has seen a huge ratings decline. Not as many people are watching the games anymore which comes as a bit of a shock because there are so many amazing players. Meanwhile, this season has more contending teams than ever before.
The ratings issues were on full display on Christmas Day, according to Bobby Burack of The Big Lead. As he explains in the Tweet below, LeBron's primetime game between his Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers, saw a 14 percent ratings decline from last year. Of course, LeBron and the Lakers took on the Warriors last year during the same time slot.
Over ten million people watched last year's match while only 8.8 million took in this year's. As a whole, Christmas Day saw a 10 percent decline from last year which is further proof that not as many people are watching. The NBA has yet to be able to explain this trend although perhaps the rise of streaming and decline in TV could be a factor.
Either way, this is a trend the NBA will certainly want to change, sooner than later.