(05-30-2017 09:21 AM)The Brown Bull Wrote: https://www.recode.net/2017/2/4/14508632...tnathanson
Everything is trending downward and I think it is mostly due to technology advances and how it impacts how we consume media and entertainment in general. The millennials are a by product of this. They consume everything is short clips. Attention spans are way down.
This is true. I think interest in sports overall is actually as high as ever, but consuming clips and checking scores on an app is what constitutes "fan engagement" today as opposed to watching a full game on TV or in person.
Quote:NFL ratings are down. https://www.recode.net/2017/2/4/14508632...tnathanson
This seems to be more of a momentary blip due to increased competition from... other sports. Note that the MLB Postseason and World Series with the Cubs in 2017 drew monster ratings that provided a lot stronger competition against fall NFL games than what we normally see. When the end of the season came about, the ratings were back up to normal NFL standards.
Also, people need to put ratings declines into context. In terms of relative power against every single other form of programming on TV (whether sports or non-sports), the NFL is at an all-time high. Even to the extent that NFL ratings and other sports ratings have dropped, every non-sports program on TV have dropped MUCH further in viewership. The relative value of sports compared to all other programs on TV is actually rising.
Quote:NCAA attendance is down from a peak in 2008.
Overall College enrollment is down from a peak in 2011.
This is true, although much of the decrease in overall college enrollment is at lower ranked schools. When you look at the top 100 or so schools in the US News rankings, which have a lot of top state flagships and private universities (AKA much of the P5 membership), they're generally seeing record levels of applications and enrollment. So, we're seeing a bifurcation in the strength of universities into a top level and a lower level with little in between (much like pretty much everything in society).
Quote:I think previous generations are still consuming as they have in the past but the new generation is not on board.
We all know the ESPN NBA contract is insane and will not support itself.
I doubt the entire system will collapse as many predict but it is going to change.
We see a lot of "the ESPN NSA contract is insane" comments lately, but that isn't actually borne out by the numbers. Look at the data from this postseason:
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2017/05/...ince-2013/
Here's the important quote:
"Game 4 had a 2.8 rating in adults 18-49, up 12% from last year’s East Finals (2.5) but down 22% from last year’s WCF on TNT (3.6). It was the night’s top television program in the demo, comfortably topping the season finale of NBC’s The Voice (1.9).
The NBA has at least tied the day’s top rating in the demo 24 times in 37 days this postseason."
If you were running a network and had a single property that could produce the top 18-49 rating (which is the rating that advertisers pay the most for) out of all of the networks in 24 out of 37 days (and note that this is when most of those games are on cable as opposed to over-the-air), you would pay a TON of money for that property because it would be the most valuable program that you'd have in your stable. The NBA delivers a *fantastic* demo of younger viewers that watch programs live, which is why it is receiving a premium. In terms of TV value due to such viewers, the NBA is clearly the most valuable sports property in America after the NFL and it's simply getting paid accordingly.
Look at how the NBA beat The Voice finale (which is one of the most stable properties on TV and one of the few non-sports programs that a large number of people watch live) head-to-head in the age 18-49 demo. As I noted earlier, even if sports might be getting lower ratings in an absolute sense, they are actually gaining more value in a relative sense because all other programs on TV are losing viewers at a MUCH faster rate. Sports have an inherent advantage on all other types of programming because they're (a) live (meaning people watch the commercials and (b) exclusive (meaning that an ESPN game needs to be watched on an ESPN platform, whereas most other programs can be accessed on a variety o platforms).