The OtherArena

[JAG]

All-time performance.

Has the inner-killer been released or will this be a blip?

And fuck the Celtics. Never enjoyed doing a heel-turn on a team during a game faster. :)

Hope Game 7 is a war.

Jagdip

[jdw]

Bye bye Celtics. 18-4 run to flip a one point lead into a 13 point gap with just over a minute left. just hit the wall.

John

[corrado]

Well the Heat delivered. Lebron wasnt as dominant as Game 6 but he delivered when it mattered the most. Bosh was the key though with those late 3's. He should start though in the Finals as hes been very valuable to them since his return.

And this might be the end of the big 3 era in Boston. I dont think allen will be back but I can see Garnett return. I dont think he wants this being the final game of his career.

This should be more competive than you would think. I still got the Thunder. But in 6.

[Rian]

Yep, still Thunder in 6.

W
W
L
L
W
W

Games 4-5 can be interchangeable but one is a W and one is a L.

[JAG]

I fucking hate the Celtics, but it's hard not to respect this group.

Hope KG finally comes home.

;)

Jagdip

[JAG]

So where does this clash of LeBron and the small-market titans end up in terms of average viewers?

There's a more readable list linked below.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/06/10/guess-the-lebron-james-heat-v-kevin-durants-thunder-nba-finals-tv-ratings-poll-historical-data/137404/

Jagdip

[Rian]

Pretty much that graph says it all. The low point in the Jordan era is roughly the high point now. And yes the Spurs didn't draw squat in a few of their finals appearances, but the low point does include LeBron.

[jdw]

No one is comparing the ratings to Jordan. They're comparing the numbers across the post-Jordan era, where the audience for nearly all shows have gone down. Ratings bottomed out in 2003-2007, with the exception of the Lakers saving the league in 2004. Business picked back up when the Lakers started getting to Finals again. The numbers for last year were terrific when one considers that it didn't have the benefit of a Game 7, which spiked huge the prior year.

The NBA will get a massive contract the next time around. That's Jag's point on running the numbers into the ground. He's not wrong on this. The fact that there is another interested party in the bidding process, and that Stern would (i) just as soon stay with his beloved partner in Time Warner and ESPN/ABC/Disney, but (ii) wouldn't be shy about using Comcast to prod those two along for increases.

John

[Rian]

Time Warner should just bid for the whole shebang, I can't stand listening to Mike Breen and Van Gundy.

Comcast isn't going to outbid ABC and/or Time Warner. Hell they can't even broadcast their flagship sports property (NHL) on NBC all seven games

CBS and Fox aren't interested in the slightest as the NBA fans aren't their target market (CBS definitely more so than Fox).

[jdw]

I didn't say Fox was interested.

CBS's recent investment in the CBS Sports channel and having no real interesting content for it, they may sniff around.

But really all you need to get an increase are:

* good ratings
* good demos
* more interested partners than seats at the table

The NBA has all three.

The reason NBC can't broadcast the NHL fully on NBC is because the NHL draws flies for ratings, even with an LA team in the Final. You want to compare what the viewers for the NBA Final in 2008-2011 are versus the Stanley Cup Finals each year?

NBC overpayed for the NHL. They thought the overpayment was useful in trying to sell Versus. They were wrong, and now are over the barrel after failing to land several other properties (they went hard for both the PAC and Big 12). The NBA and MLB are the ones of not coming up in the next few years, than the Big 10.

NBC has already said they they're very interesting in MLB, and Fox & ESPN look like they've letting their exclusive windows to extend pass... probably because MLB was asking too much of an increase. But there will likely be at least two entities interested: Comcast and to a degree ESPN.

The NBA will be the same thing, though if there's an exclusive window for Disney and Time Warner, both will likely get a deal done in it unless the NBA asks for the moon.

Which is very possible. Stern wouldn't on his own since he likes the relationship with ESPN (which is a fulltime house organ for the NBA) and Time Warner (he loves Time Warner so much that they run his network). But we saw with the lock out that Stern doesn't fully run the league anymore, and the major counter Stern movement (not really "anti" but just opposite to some of Stern's vision) in the Totally Fucking Greed of Most NBA Owners. Those owners were hardline enough to force Stern to the right of where he would have settled with the players, and it's not like Stern wasn't going to get rollbacks out of the players. Those same owners may force Stern to put his relationships with ESPN and TW at risk by playing hardball in inviting Comcast to the table with a major, massive bid.

That said, Comcast will never get the full deal. The NBA won't put all their eggs back in one basket again as there's more money to be made by having 2 at the table rather than 1. In fact, he may look at carving the deal up three ways to get Comcast to the table. Comcast may be so desperate that they'll be happy with a corner of the regular season and no rights for the post season. ESPN may also have so much inventory that they can carve out one of their nights of NBA games for Comcast.

All in all, the NBA has people that want it, and the contract will go up.

[Rian]

Does the NBA have good demos? I know it doesn't draw in nearly enough of the "older" crowd but that's not what matters to the tv networks who love the 18-49 crowd. Pretty sure it doesn't draw in the demographics that ABC is looking for, ESPN and TNT are much closer to the target demographic's tastes and interests.

Comcast will not get much if anything of the NBA, the only question is how big does Time Warner want to get involved in the NBA picture?

[JAG]

[Rian]

Looks like the Grizz have been sold, and don't look to be leaving Memphis.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/basketball/nba/06/11/grizzlies-sale.ap/index.html?sct=hp_t2_a3&eref=sihp&hpt=hp_bn16

[jdw]

His company is in so-so shape at the moment:

Ubiquiti's Grizzly Stock Performance

John

[corrado]

Thunder win thanks to one of their patented 2nd Half comebacks. Led by Durant with 26. Heat couldnt keep up with them.

How good was their comeback? Most of it was done with Harden on the bench. Fisher played a big role in that comeback.