Is the NBA a niche sport?

NBA and ratings . . . ratings tend to follow market size. The largest three metro areas (NYC, LA, CHI) lend major ratings when their respective teams are part of the mix. However, when a superstar lands in one of the big 3 markets, the ratings seem to skyrocket. Looking at ratings for Finals like Chicago/Utah . . . there’s about 1 million people in metro SLC, a bona-fide ratings disaster in the making, so there had to be magic with Jordan and the 3rd largest market making up a lot of the difference.

Metro area size . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas

In terms of thinking about metro areas, I tend to think in a semi-limited area because New Jersey, of all the clubs, should generate a NY boost due to proximity, but it clearly did not (2003 NBA Finals).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association_Nielsen_ratings

The Lakers may have their own ‘effect’ within the NBA Nielsen link, but I argue that the Knicks and Bulls have a similar effect. If one also thinks in terms of big market + superstar = ratings win, Lakers ratings in the 80s Finals were boosted by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Add Boston, a usual top 15 market (currently 5 million metro) plus Bird . . . plus the Lakers Finals with identical-sized Detroit, plus Isiah . . .

Shanoff hints something interesting, at least to me, in one regard. If Stern’s League of Stars marketing was worth its salt, then San Antonio’s Tim Duncan plus Cleveland’s LeBron James should have netted at least a 10 share. Instead, it was the worst rated Finals, to date. Metro Cleveland is ranked 24th on that list. San Antonio is 29th. The combo of both metro pops is about 4 million. The 2nd-worst . . . 2003, with San Antonio and Duncan vs. New Jersey and Jason Kidd.

Based on my own estimate, I think NBA interest has declined since the 1990s. I think the American market, however, scatters interest so wide in today’s world that few or no outfits will generate the ratings of previous decades. It isn’t just NBA, ABC, and CBS anymore. There are more people, but there are exponentially more things to watch, including online with the advent of internet. Niche market is a term that applies to almost everything these days, as marketers have been concentrating on getting a majority of smaller demographic groups since the 1990s.

And, as always, Americans tend to watch selfishly. If their team’s not in it, they overwhelmingly do not care.

NBA = NBC