A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Perhaps the biggest story in sports media right now is why NBA ratings are way down this season – nearly 20% across TNT, ESPN and ABC. Many fans and pundits have speculated theories on social media : too many three pointers! Too woke! Season too long! “Inside The NBA” is ruining the game! The league has noticed, too (of course). Here’s what my league sources are telling me: 1. The biggest reason is cord cutting. This is also why the NBA gave Warner Bros. Discovery the proverbial boot after this season as a live game distributor. Relying on cable networks ESPN and TNT is no longer a winning strategy. In November, streaming content made up 41.6% of total TV consumption , according to Nielsen – an all-time high. That’s why the NBA chose Amazon and NBCUniversal as its two new partners – one with a global streaming service and another with a broadcast network and a streaming service (Peacock). (It’s also why Warner Bros. Discovery may not have been too keen to pay huge dollars to keep the NBA!) 2. Star players have been injured. Joel Embiid, Zion Williamson, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama and many others have already missed multiple games with injury, and the season is barely one quarter old. 3. Bad luck competing with other sporting events. Friday of Week 4 was the Tyson-Paul fight, which sucked up the sports viewing oxygen. NBA games on Black Friday went up against a Georgia-Georgia Tech college football game that went into eight overtimes. Marquee games from the Knicks and Lakers were directly up against the World Series, featuring teams from New York and LA. League sources point out that the NBA’s slumping ratings this season aren’t in a vacuum. Linear TV ratings for the NHL and college basketball – other sports that rely on cable networks for viewership – are also down about 20% or more compared to last year. There’s a reason Comcast is spinning off its cable networks, Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting its company into linear TV vs. streaming, and ESPN is launching a flagship subscription streaming service next year. The eyeballs are fleeing cable TV. For a while, sports was the glue holding it together. Now, even non-football sports seem like they’re losing their grip. (Disclosure: Comcast owns CNBC parent NBCUniversal.) *** Sick of the family? Want to sneak out and watch those Netflix Christmas NFL games at your local sports bar? You might not be able to. Netflix’s two games – Kansas City vs. Pittsburgh and Houston vs. Baltimore – aren’t going to be available in any commercial establishments where DirecTV provides satellite TV service unless the business also subscribes to streaming service EverPass , according to people familiar with the matter. DirecTV chose not to pay the six-figure licensing fee, figuring the audience for people hitting the bar and watching football on Christmas day would be minimal, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. It’s also a blow to casinos and hotels, which will need to pay extra to offer the games to their customers and guests. EverPass, a joint venture co-owned by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and the NFL, provides streaming-only service for commercial establishments. For casinos, bars and sportsbooks that have been using DirecTV and want the games, they’ll have to become EverPass subscribers. Casinos and sportsbooks will also have to pay an extra fee to EverPass, based on their fire code occupancy, on top of the cost of subscribing and potentially buying a streaming box. Based on several private interactions I’ve had with commercial establishments who get their games from DTV, they appear to be caught flat-footed by this. They’re just now figuring out they’re not going to get the Netflix games. DirecTV is gambling a bit here. It’s possible saving a little bit of money by not striking a deal with EverPass as a distribution partner will force businesses to test out EverPass’s streaming service. That may be pushing customers to a competitor. But it’s also possible most commercial venues won’t bother paying for something just for Christmas Day. DirecTV has said it serves about 300,000 commercial establishments, though at least 10% of that number has canceled service this year, CNBC Sport reported in October . But DirecTV also feels like satellite technology is far superior to streaming – especially for places like a sports bar or a casino, which rely on TVs moving at the same speed and are extremely reliant on technology working smoothly. This is particularly interesting given Netflix’s streaming issues for the Mike Tyson – Jake Paul fight last month. The Tyson-Paul fight was the opposite scenario — it was exclusively distributed to DirecTV and not EverPass. DirecTV sources were quick to ping me the next day to note that bars and restaurants didn’t experience any of the latency issues that millions at home battled during the fight and its undercards. If Netflix has streaming issues with the Christmas Day games, I imagine my phone may light up again. And I wouldn’t be too surprised if DirecTV is a little bit louder about its technological advantages. On the record With ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes … This week’s guest is ESPN NFL analyst and multimedia maven Mina Kimes . Kimes has gained a huge social media following from being consistently clever and very online. Her combination of unusual traits – Asian female, millennial, bonafide business journalist-turned-NFL analyst, magazine writer-turned-TV personality – has given her a unique role at ESPN. Personally, I use Mina as my standard archetype of the modern journalist – someone who can write, host a podcast, appear on TV, be active on social media, and carry two torches: one for herself and one for the company she works for. “I don’t know what sports media is going to look like in five years,” Kimes told me. “My approach has always just been to be open to trying new things at ESPN, to be constantly watching to see what young folks, or just early adopters, are doing, and see if it’s something that interests me, and to kind of expand and contract my portfolio, sort of in conjunction with that.” I talked to Kimes about all of this and about how she found out she’s going to be a part of Netflix’s Christmas Day broadcast. I also had to ask her about her Super Bowl prediction. (Spoiler alert: She doesn’t choose the San Francisco 49ers or the Seattle Seahawks.) Watch the full interview. CNBC Sport highlight reel The best of CNBC Sport from the past week: Hot off the press: CNBC’s Mike Ozanian is out with valuations for the top 75 college athletic programs. You can find them here. Ohio State is this year’s most valuable athletic program, worth an estimated $1.27 billion. Schools that prioritize and excel at college football are the most valuable programs, according to the list. That’s not a surprise. Football generates about 75% of athletic program revenue at major conference schools (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC), according to Ozanian’s reporting. And, private equity firms are sniffing around ways to potentially acquire equity in programs – an offshoot of the growing professionalization of college sports from NIL and the NCAA’s proposed settlement with student-athletes. I teamed up with CNBC’s Tyler Mathisen and Kelly Evans to interview superagent Scott Boras about the huge $765 million Juan Soto contract and the state of Major League Baseball. You can watch our interview here. The 3×3 women’s basketball startup league Unrivaled said this week it has closed a Series A funding round, raising an additional $28 million before its inaugural season. Investors include NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo , 28-time Olympic medalist swimmer Michael Phelps , and star USC guard JuJu Watkins . CNBC’s Kristian Burt has more. The big number: $90 million That’s how much the Atlanta Falcons owe quarterback Kirk Cousins in guaranteed money, even though the Falcons benched Cousins heading into this week’s game against the New York Giants. The Falcons will start first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. ahead of Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million deal coming into the season. Quote of the week “I’m listening to NBC and Amazon . I want to know everything that’s on the table for me before I sign in.” — Charles Barkley on “The Dan Patrick Show,” suggesting he has an option to leave Warner Bros. Discovery and “Inside the NBA” if he chooses. TNT Sports sources have repeatedly said privately that Barkley is under contract. ESPN struck a deal to license “Inside the NBA” from TNT last month. ESPN and TNT are moving forward assuming the show will carry on next year, according to people familiar with the matter. Around the league LIV golf is close to reaching a deal with Fox Sports to air the tour’s tournaments beginning next year, according to Sports Business Journal. PSA released its most collected cards of 2024. The most-collected athlete of 2024? Victor Wembanyama. In a show of his amazing staying power, Michael Jordan was second. Clearly, collectors see Wembanyama as a generational talent. For the first time ever, the Ivy League will allow its conference winner to compete for the FCS Division 1 championship. The winner of the league will get an automatic bid to the 24-team FCS playoffs beginning next season. Previously, schools such as Harvard, Princeton and Yale have seen their seasons end when scheduled regular season games have concluded. Sportico reports the Boston Celtics took in $394 million in gross revenue for the 2023-24 season. That will be the baseline that potential buyers of the team will use to assess how much they’re willing to pay for majority control of the team, which is being sold by lead owner Wyc Grousbeck. ESPN’s Shams Charania reports Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard has agreed to a lifetime contract extension with Adidas. Lillard joins LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry as NBA stars with lifetime shoe deals. The NBA’s Phoenix Suns are dramatically cutting prices on concessions to make attending games more fan-friendly. For all home games this season, hot dogs, water, soda, chips and popcorn will all be $2 each. The Suns are following the lead of the Utah Jazz, which cut prices earlier this year.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, #23, during the NBA game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Jan. 7, 2024.
Jevone Moore | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images
A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Perhaps the biggest story in sports media right now is why NBA ratings are way down this season – nearly 20% across TNT, ESPN and ABC. Many fans and pundits have speculated theories on social media: too many three pointers! Too woke! Season too long! “Inside The NBA” is ruining the game!
The league has noticed, too (of course). Here’s what my league sources are telling me:
1. The biggest reason is cord cutting. This is also why the NBA gave Warner Bros. Discovery the proverbial boot after this season as a live game distributor. Relying on cable networks ESPN and TNT is no longer a winning strategy. In November, streaming content made up 41.6% of total TV consumption, according to Nielsen – an all-time high. That’s why the NBA chose Amazon and NBCUniversal as its two new partners – one with a global streaming service and another with a broadcast network and a streaming service (Peacock). (It’s also why Warner Bros. Discovery may not have been too keen to pay huge dollars to keep the NBA!)
2. Star players have been injured. Joel Embiid, Zion Williamson, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama and many others have already missed multiple games with injury, and the season is barely one quarter old.
3. Bad luck competing with other sporting events. Friday of Week 4 was the Tyson-Paul fight, which sucked up the sports viewing oxygen. NBA games on Black Friday went up against a Georgia-Georgia Tech college football game that went into eight overtimes. Marquee games from the Knicks and Lakers were directly up against the World Series, featuring teams from New York and LA.
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League sources point out that the NBA’s slumping ratings this season aren’t in a vacuum. Linear TV ratings for the NHL and college basketball – other sports that rely on cable networks for viewership – are also down about 20% or more compared to last year.
There’s a reason Comcast is spinning off its cable networks, Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting its company into linear TV vs. streaming, and ESPN is launching a flagship subscription streaming service next year. The eyeballs are fleeing cable TV. For a while, sports was the glue holding it together. Now, even non-football sports seem like they’re losing their grip.
(Disclosure: Comcast owns CNBC parent NBCUniversal.)
***
Sick of the family? Want to sneak out and watch those Netflix Christmas NFL games at your local sports bar? You might not be able to.
Netflix’s two games – Kansas City vs. Pittsburgh and Houston vs. Baltimore – aren’t going to be available in any commercial establishments where DirecTV provides satellite TV service unless the business also subscribes to streaming service EverPass, according to people familiar with the matter.
DirecTV chose not to pay the six-figure licensing fee, figuring the audience for people hitting the bar and watching football on Christmas day would be minimal, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.
It’s also a blow to casinos and hotels, which will need to pay extra to offer the games to their customers and guests.
EverPass, a joint venture co-owned by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and the NFL, provides streaming-only service for commercial establishments.
For casinos, bars and sportsbooks that have been using DirecTV and want the games, they’ll have to become EverPass subscribers. Casinos and sportsbooks will also have to pay an extra fee to EverPass, based on their fire code occupancy, on top of the cost of subscribing and potentially buying a streaming box.
Based on several private interactions I’ve had with commercial establishments who get their games from DTV, they appear to be caught flat-footed by this. They’re just now figuring out they’re not going to get the Netflix games.
DirecTV is gambling a bit here. It’s possible saving a little bit of money by not striking a deal with EverPass as a distribution partner will force businesses to test out EverPass’s streaming service. That may be pushing customers to a competitor. But it’s also possible most commercial venues won’t bother paying for something just for Christmas Day.
DirecTV has said it serves about 300,000 commercial establishments, though at least 10% of that number has canceled service this year, CNBC Sport reported in October.
But DirecTV also feels like satellite technology is far superior to streaming – especially for places like a sports bar or a casino, which rely on TVs moving at the same speed and are extremely reliant on technology working smoothly.
This is particularly interesting given Netflix’s streaming issues for the Mike Tyson–Jake Paul fight last month.
The Tyson-Paul fight was the opposite scenario — it was exclusively distributed to DirecTV and not EverPass. DirecTV sources were quick to ping me the next day to note that bars and restaurants didn’t experience any of the latency issues that millions at home battled during the fight and its undercards.
If Netflix has streaming issues with the Christmas Day games, I imagine my phone may light up again. And I wouldn’t be too surprised if DirecTV is a little bit louder about its technological advantages.
On the record
With ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes …
