The NBA’s push to push through with their delayed season is going to waste as the ratings of the league continue to plummet. It seems that the fans have not joined back the league to enjoy its new format. Ethan Strauss of The Athletic has pointed out that the current ratings that the league is getting are well below the numbers that the NBA got before the COVID break. The ABC’s NBA broadcasts for the 2019-20 season got 2.95 million viewers, which is way low when compared to the 2011-12 season which got 5.42 million viewership. That is a 45% decline within less than a ten year period.

The TNT viewership has not fared any better. It has declined by as much as 40% since the 2011-12 season. ESPN’s decline was as much as 20%.

Others have offered theories about the decline. Some say it is because many people are now using the internet to view the games. The problem is that the methods used for measuring those viewerships account for the streaming services, although imperfectly. Another possible explanation that has been proposed is that some people are relying on pirated games. While it is true that the internet has had an impact on viewership, it does not account for the whole decline. Sports Business Daily also reported before the season was interrupted by the pandemic that it was already suffering from a 12% decline compared to the 2018-19 season.

The NBA Commissioner tried to downplay the decline in ratings. “I’m not concerned, either. In terms of every other key indicator that we look at that measures the popularity of the league, we’re up,” he said.

One of the main reasons why people are refusing to watch the NBA now is that the league and its players have come to embrace leftist ideologies. They have started to kneel during the singing of the national anthem and they have emblazoned some woke messages on their uniform as they played. They have also supported Black Lives Matter while accusing ordinary Americans of being racist. It’s therefore not surprising that many fans have been turned off by all of their leftist antics and have stayed away from watching their games. Even if they return to the stadiums soon, it’s not likely that the fans will be back in full force.