NBA is considering permanent play-in, series-like schedule for 2021

As the shortened National Basketball season passes the playoffs under the bubble in Orlando, the rating numbers are scattered everywhere. Some networks have decided to incorporate total viewership (including streaming), arguing that media consumption habits have changed, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, the attitude of the league on issues of social injustice has been widely applauded, but has not resonated well with all NBA fans.

But one thing cannot be discussed: The NBA can still attract viewers for games that matter, such as last weekend’s play-in game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies.

Eighth-place Blazers and ninth-place Grizzlies competed to secure eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. The play-off was added this year to give teams that were less than four games out of eighth place at the end of the short regular season a shot at the playoffs. If the Grizzlies had won two games against Portland, they would have made the playoffs. Instead, they lost 126-121 and the Blazers will advance.

Played on a Saturday afternoon, and with two NBA markets rarely attracting national attention, it averaged 1.9 million viewers and reached 2.6 million viewers in about 16.45 hours according to ESPN.

The network told CNBC that the game was 7 percent of the “NBA on ABC seeding games, which averaged an audience of 1.8 million viewers.”

“That’s a good number,” said longtime executive sports television host Neal Pilson of the Match-up Blazers-Grizzlies. “It’s a good rating and a good audience. It proves games that have meaning – win or lose – in almost every sport get a larger audience than an average league match.”

“We won the day,” Byron Spruell, executive NBA executive, added in an interview with CNBC. “To have so many millions of viewers watching our product and that match-up and the inaugural play-in, that was huge for us.”

Spruell, the president of NBA operations, said the game, featuring a dynamic superstar in Damian Lillard and rookie star Ja Morant, was “compelling and exciting.”

And with the ratings serving as support, the NBA plans to discuss adding the play-in model permanently to the traditional 82-game season.

“We are excited about the foundation that is set for the play-in and where we can go for the future,” Spruell said.

Spruell said the league learns a lot from its $ 200 million Walt Disney World bubble campus, which was added to the NBA playoffs on March 11 due to the pandemic.

The NBA’s 22-team format is entertaining, open to 2 million viewers when it returns on July 30th. Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports, said he was surprised by “the level of intensity in empty arenas with boys not playing for months competing.

“The quality of the games has been pretty good – close, exciting, intense, dramatic ending,” he said. “It’s been quality television.”

The NBA pays attention to why competition is fresh and exciting, and it’s in part due to the lack of travel, which takes a toll on players’ bodies. The league has tried to adjust the scheme over the years, but has yet to find a cure for “load management.”

The benefits of fewer trips are a good argument for a series-like schedule, similar to Major League Baseball, which Spruell said will be discussed as a potential addition in the future.

The model would allow teams to play back-to-back games in the same city against the same team. Also, clubs could play all their season match-ups against clubs in multiple team states such as Texas, California and New York on one trip instead of making multiple stops throughout the year.

The series model could also help create scarcity if planned well, as some cities could only see certain teams and stars each year, similar to how the NFL works.

Spruell said the NBA would continue to “look at travel data, see how it affects the quality of play. Are there better opportunities for teams to plan? I think all of those things in it will play out as learning opportunities.” “

Pilson said he likes the series concept for two reasons: spending and must-see competition.

“I am amazed that it has not affected them up to this point, because travel is an expense for the league and the teams,” Pilson said. He added the second game of the concept of the back-to-back series could serve as “that get-even level of play that is fun to watch.”

Some league members have also called for conferences to be scrapped, giving the top 16 teams an overall shot in the post-season, but Spruell suggested this is not considered at the moment.

Pilson remarks, “There’s a learning curve here. They read the tea leaves. They look at audience measurements, they look at ratings, the players, the level of intensity. The rivalries and player interactions, it has been good game. It’s quality television. “

Spruell also said the league has scheduled a December timeline for the start of next season, as it wants to complete its 82-game schedule by the end of June 2021 and prevent them from clashing with the Olympics. “A lot of things need to be considered,” Spruell said, including input and approval from the National Basketball Players Players Association.

All of these concepts are bare talks at this point, as the NBA tries to keep its current season intact. But Spruell said the NBA would continue to explore how it can create more match-ups and games that “matter,” because the league now clearly sees the advantage of the play-in game.

“With change and opportunity comes innovation and experience,” he said. “So, if you’ve had this experience of being on campus, first with health and safety – there are a lot of lessons to think about, and if we can ever return to 82 games in the market, that’s it. great.

“But has there been any intermission given where the pandemic may be next season, given the experience we see of our teams and players in this campus format. Is there anything in between that we can accomplish as well?”