With the game growing around the world, how will the NBA accommodate international viewers?
Saturday and Sunday mornings have become a bit of a ritual for me, as depending on the start time (7:45, 10:00, or 12:30), I am on my couch watching Arsenal’s weekend Premier League game. You’re all invited by the way (unless you support Tottenham), and when you arrive you’ll find me sleep deprived (insert your crazy idea of what Nick does on weekends here), and hunched over donning my Jack Wilshere jersey with the R and the E falling off. My devotion pails in comparison to others though, who manage to get themselves to a local bar to take in the games with other fans. Crazy right? Watching soccer in the morning, I mean COME ON. Thing is, more people are watching than ever, regardless of how early they air.
So when I read that David Stern and Adam Silver were considering changing the tip off times for some NBA games to accommodate for the folks in China, who have to get up at 7 and 10am to watch games, I laughed at their “problem.” If Chinese basketball fans are as devoted as they say they are, and it appears they are, then it is likely people are waking up early in the morning to watch their favorite teams play. There is however, the issue of the Christmas schedule. As Ben Golliver of si.com points out:
The start times for this year’s quintuple-header on Christmas will run from 12 p.m. ET to 10:30 p.m. ET. That’s midnight to 10:30 a.m. in Beijing. There’s no realistic way for Chinese fans — especially younger ones — to catch more than a few of those games, and it’s understandable why Stern and Silver might see this as a tremendous lost opportunity.
Golliver makes a fair point, but it is also unrealistic to adjust the tip off times for these games when TV ratings are at some of highest marks ever. And while Stern and Silver are right to address these concerns (they were after all, brought up while the NBA made their preseason tour in China), another international market, that is, the European market, isn’t being considered.
Western Europe is roughly five or six hours ahead of the eastern United States, which means games tip at either midnight or 3:30 am. In other words, not ideal for anyone. In past years Sky Sports in the UK has shown up to three NBA games on Sundays, but picked up more games last January. While the NBA’s popularity is still growing in Europe, it is difficult to reach more fans when the games run while most of Europe is asleep.
So which market then, would be easier to accommodate? Golliver provides one scenario for China:
Imagine this best-case scenario: Bryant’s Lakers host Lin’s Rockets at the Staples Center for a 9 p.m. PT weekend tip off. Yes, that’s a little late, but it’s not all that different than the standard 7:30 p.m. PT tip, and it’s not like the city of L.A. shuts down early…Now, schedule the contest on a weekend or, better yet, a Chinese national holiday. If you want to go all the way, have Yao provide color commentary from the sideline while both teams wear themed uniforms.
It is an interesting idea, but would also be a once a year event. Finding ways to accommodate on a weekly basis would prove harder. For Chinese audiences, starting games later will still mean airing them in the morning, as the league could only afford to move back start times an hour or two (and that wouldn’t be too ideal for players and fans in North America). Realistically, fans in China would have to resort to special occasions like Golliver’s idea to watch games during the day or evening.
For European fans, time adjustments are little more realistic. A few games each week could be moved to 5:30pm tips which would mean a 10:30pm tip off for parts of Europe. Fan attendance would likely suffer a bit, since many would either be getting off work or sitting down for an early dinner. Scheduling those games on the weekends would be more ideal, and weekend games could start even earlier.
Ultimately, accommodating international fan bases is going to come at the cost of another market, and any scheduling adjustments should still put North American audiences first. But as the game grows internationally, and as more international players breakthrough in the league, it is important to reach every pocket of the globe.
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