The Warriors (24-1) are the best team in the NBA by any measure, but the league isn’t taking advantage of it. Golden State’s 24-0 record to begin the season was historic, but NBA fans without the League Pass saw, at most, just seven of their games.
The NBA national media has noticed, and begun taking the league to task for not working to make sure fans can see more of this must-see TV. After the Warriors broke the record for the best start in NBA history, the NBA showed just three of their next nine games, according to USA Today’s For The Win.
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FTW singled out NBA TV as the worst offender for the lack of Warriors games, citing restrictions on ESPN and TNT regarding previously scheduled live programming and limitations on the amount of teams they can show.
“It’s amazing the league didn’t find a way to put those games on NBATV,” Chris Chase wrote. “It would have had “strangers” seeking out the NBA.” Chase also wrote that a good week for NBA TV means 200,000 viewers. Sports Illustrated also wrote about the lack of Warriors games on TV, and the ratings for them should make NBA TV’s shot callers cringe.
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“ESPN/ABC has aired four Golden State games this season, two of which were added after the season started. Those four games have averaged 2.1 million viewers, up 18% over ESPN’s average (1.8 million) for all games this season,” SI’s Richard Deitsch wrote.
NBA TV’s people had to know the Warriors mean a ratings boost; their six games this season on NBA TV have averaged 526,000 viewers.
Golden State has the reigning MVP (Stephen Curry), the best shooting backcourt of all-time (Curry, Klay Thompson), a Scottie Pippen clone (Draymond Green), and a style of play that is revolutionizing basketball. Get ‘em on television.
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