Caitlin Clark comments on NBA ratings and voices suspicions on why they’re down
Caitlin Clark believes that the NBA has lost its ratings in recent months due to the sport constantly “evolving”, allowing the “average” fan to just tune out of the game.
Through the current 2024 season, basketball games averaged 1.4 million viewers across ABC, TNT, and ESPN, according to Sports MediaWatch. This number is down 19% from last year, meaning that fewer people are tuning in to watch the NBA on a regular basis – something that could be a worry to TV bosses in the future.
Most recently, the NBA signed a $76 billion deal with various TV networks – ESPN, ABC, NBC, and Amazon – to run over 11 years and allow these broadcasters to gain rights to show all the action from the regular and post-season run-in. Despite this stellar deal and viewership increasing on opening day in October last year – higher than it has done for seven years – much discussion has been had on the problem with NBA TV ratings.
While research shows that NBA ratings have declined overall, December 25 was a popular day for the sport in 2024. According to Sports MediaWatch, the NBA averaged 5.25 million viewers for its five Christmas Day games on ESPN and ABC, marking this season’s festive round of fixtures as the league’s most watched in the last five years.
So, as the discussion continues regarding the NBA viewership debate, WNBA sensation and current Rookie of the Year Clark has weighed in, and claimed that the sport’s constant change may be the reason people aren’t tuning in.
The 22-year-old appeared on the New Heights podcast alongside Jason and Travis Kelce, with the eldest brother asking Clark for her thoughts on the NBA ratings debate.
She said: “That’s a great question. I’ve been asking a lot of people about this and why they think they’re down, but also it’s interesting because I’m pretty sure opening day was the NBA’s best opening day in a while so it’s interesting.”
Jason then asked Clark for her “suspicions” as to why the ratings may have declined in recent months, to which the Indiana Fever star blamed the very nature of the sport as the reason why viewership has changed.
Clark explained: “Honestly I feel like the average basketball fan doesn’t understand how good NBA players are and they think it looks like they’re not trying. But I promise you they are, they’re just so good, that’s why it looks like they’re not trying.
“Obviously, the physicality of the league has changed a lot, and I wasn’t around when it was much more physical, and maybe people want more beef and physicality, and people think it’s gotten soft. But I think that’s also because the skill has just changed and that’s what’s great about basketball, it’s always evolving.
“It’s going to be different than when MJ (Michael Jordan) played, it’s going to be different in 10 years than it is now. So, it’s hard for me to put my finger on why it has gone down, and also, it’s competing against a lot of football right now. You have to take that into consideration. Football is America’s favorite thing. I think people should like, I mean I love three-point shooting, I love seeing guys launch threes but not everybody loves that so I don’t know.”
