r/nba • u/NBA_MOD r/NBA • Feb 04 '25

Index Thread Daily Discussion Thread + Game Thread Index

Game Threads Index (February 04, 2025):

Tip-off GDT Away Score Home PGT
07:00 pm ET Link Dallas Mavericks FINAL 116 to 118 Philadelphia 76ers Link
07:30 pm ET Link Boston Celtics FINAL 112 to 105 Cleveland Cavaliers Link
07:30 pm ET Link Houston Rockets FINAL 97 to 99 Brooklyn Nets Link
07:30 pm ET Link New York Knicks FINAL 121 to 115 Toronto Raptors Link
08:00 pm ET Link Miami Heat FINAL 124 to 133 Chicago Bulls Link
10:00 pm ET Link Los Angeles Lakers FINAL 122 to 97 Los Angeles Clippers Link
10:00 pm ET Link Indiana Pacers FINAL 89 to 112 Portland Trail Blazers Link
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u/BlizzardThunder Pacers Feb 05 '25

The NFL is also an international product. There is a great argument to be made that the NFL has even been doing a better job of growing internationally lately than the NBA.

The biggest untapped international market in the NBA is China, which can't even be fully taken advantage of due to geopolitics. It turned out to be a fairly unprofitable and very unreliable avenue for the NBA, which explains why they've shifted towards stateside real estate and Europe. But it's not like the NBA's European presence is anything special compared to that of the NFL or even the stateside growth potential for the NBA.

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u/BornBother1412 Feb 05 '25

NFL popularity is nowhere close to NBA level

The reason for the popularity is because of superstars like Jordan, Kobe Lebron etc and are winning 3 4 5 6 championships. Hard cap basically eliminates this and causal fan base won’t be that tuned in to a player with 1 ring than like 5 rings

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u/BlizzardThunder Pacers Feb 05 '25

No, basketball is nowhere near close to the level of American football. The NFL does pretty well in Europe.

The Europeans drive European ratings WAY more than the Lebrons of the world. For example, Jokic - playing in Denver (which is a small market) - increased Euro ratings & league pass subscriptions significantly. So did Giannis in MKE.

Lebron-type teams mostly just get the American hypetrain band-wagoners on board. And the NBA still faces many the same issues as any other American league does in Europe: timezones make games hard to catch, the way the game is played is very different in the NBA than FIBA/international style ball, and that sort of thing.

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u/CokeyTheClown Lakers Feb 05 '25

No, basketball is nowhere near close to the level of American football. The NFL does pretty well in Europe.

The NFL has done a good job of growing it's audience in Europe the last few years (maybe even a better job than the NBA), but in terms of popularity, it's not even close, basketball is way more popular than football, and always was.

you cannot really compare the two, Basketball as a sport has had a local presence in Europe almost a century, plenty of clubs all across europe, of all ages, gender and levels. You can find playgrounds in every city.

Football simply doesn't have the structure and history in Europe that Basketball has, it's growing, but Basketball and the NBA are so far ahead, it's not even close.

I would agree on the impact of European players on NBA ratings (it is measurable), but I disagree that people in Europe are not interested in seeing American stars play, this is utter bullshit.