During Christmas, Luo Jihang, who studied in the United States, met with friends to go skiing in Colorado. Several friends are fans, and after some discussion, they all really want to watch the NBA Christmas game, so they unanimously decided to switch to Denver to watch a game between the Nuggets and the Warriors.
Fans who are familiar with the NBA can probably feel the special nature of the Christmas game for the NBA. Back in the 2008-09 season, the NBA scheduled five key games at one time on Christmas Day, and the yellow-green matchup was even more talked about because the Lakers ended the longest 19-game winning streak in Celtics history and Phil Jackson won 1,000 wins in his coaching career. Since then, there have been five major games every year in the Christmas War, and the live broadcast can last from noon to the end of Christmas.
Back on Christmas Day 1947, BAA, the predecessor of the NBA, pioneered the concept of Christmas War, a holiday tradition that has survived for decades. Christmas games tend to be the most watched during the regular season. According to data provided by Nielsen, the average number of viewers in the NBA's pre-Christmas regular season last season was about 1.6 million, but the average viewership of the five Christmas games was 4.34 million, and the Bucks' game against the Celtics reached 6.08 million. For comparison, the average number of viewers for this season's NBA Midseason Tournament was 1.67 million, and the Lakers-Pacers Finals broadcast on ABC and ESPN2 was only 4.58 million.
While Adam Shaw is painstakingly adding midseason tournaments in an attempt to elevate the NBA's highlights, the most important Christmas game of the regular season is about to have a big impact, as the NFL begins to pay attention to the Christmas schedule.
In North American professional sports, the NHL is unable to schedule games on Christmas Day due to collective bargaining agreements, while other events such as the MLB and MLS are in the offseason throughout December. The NFL also didn't pay attention to Christmas before, which made the NBA almost exclusive to the timing and place of Christmas, at least when it comes to the "Christmas War", fans will associate it with the NBA.
But from the perspective of ratings, the NBA may not have "people". According to a report by Front office sports, the NFL first hosted a Christmas game in 1971, but due to poor response, the league was suspended until 1989 and only one or two games were scheduled intermittently since. However, Sports media watch has tally counted the ratings of Christmas games over the past few decades, and the data shows that whenever there is an NFL game on Christmas Day, the average viewership is almost several times that of the NBA.
The 2009 and 2010 Christmas games were only broadcast on the NFL Network, affecting viewing numbers
The most typical example is the NBA's Christmas Game in 1993-94, which had the highest viewership to date, with 15.35 million people watching the Bulls' game against the Magic. This season, Jordan has retired for the first time, and the main reason for the record ratings is that NBC conducted an NFL-NBA package on the same day, and the first Houston Oilers (now Titans) against the San Francisco 49ers attracted 26.68 million viewers, driving the ratings of the NBA live broadcast that followed.
And starting last season, the NFL is going to take Christmas seriously. Last season, the NFL scheduled three games for the first time on Christmas Day, with an average of 21.9 million viewers, five times more than the NBA. There are also 3 NFL games this Christmas, and the data provided by Nielsen shows that the live broadcast of the Raiders vs. Chiefs attracted 29.17 million viewers, setting a new Christmas viewing record since 1989. It is worth mentioning that this is not a single-game ratings record in the NFL this season, and it does not even rank in the top three.
Although the ratings for the NBA's Christmas game have not yet been announced, some industry insiders predicted that it will be the league's lowest-rated Christmas. In response, NBA executive vice president and director of basketball operations, Hall of Fame player Joe Dumas told Front office sports: "It's not that we didn't know that the NFL would be televised this Christmas. But it's really about the line-up we've put out and the fan base that wants a good game. ”
The importance that the NBA attaches to this Christmas game can be seen from the Nuggets' appearance in the Christmas lineup four times in five years, and James' first Christmas game against the old rival Celtics. Redick also mentioned to Front office sports that despite losing family time, most players welcome the tradition. They know that these nationally televised games will generate the same amount of viewership as the playoffs.
For now, at least, the Christmas war remains attractive. Luo Jihang told Lazy Bear Sports that the seat he sat in this time was about $170 after tax at the usual ticket, but he booked the ticket a month in advance and spent $340.
Outside of the fans, sponsors are still flocking to the stadium. Jacqueline Dobies, Disney's vice president of revenue and revenue management for the advertising division, told Marketing Brew in early December that the NFL's sponsorship included 33 brands across 23 ad categories, up from 30 brands in 21 categories last year. And the investment in 5 NBA games is also "close to being sold out".
According to a report by Sports Business Journal, the NBA has 49 official sponsors for this year's Christmas game, including both old brands such as Gatorade and State Farm, as well as 7 new brands this season, such as Hisense, Fanatics and Peloton.
Obviously, in the case of almost crushing the ratings, the NBA still has the investment results that are not inferior to the NFL. Sportico analyzes this. On the one hand, the NBA attracts 42% of viewers in the 18-49 age group, which is higher than the NFL's 33% and much higher than the 17% of regular primetime entertainment, and on the other hand, the NBA advertising is more affordable. Last year's price, for example, ABC/ESPN's preset ad price for the Grizzlies vs. Warriors fluctuated from $150,000 to $660,000 during the same 8 p.m. prime-time Christmas game, while on NBC, the average unit price of a 30-second ad for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals was more than $1 million. The former's CPM ($31.59) is almost half that of the latter ($59.48).
For the NBA, while painstakingly holding a mid-season tournament, it definitely doesn't want to pick up sesame seeds and lose watermelon. Arranging more topical matchups and fielding more high-profile stars is a familiar approach, but it's not without room for improvement. Luo Jihang mentioned that he and his friends thought that the stadium would have some special arrangements on Christmas Day, such as sending towels, wrist pads and other peripherals, but not only did they not have it, but even the interactive gift-giving session of the pause and halftime was not as frequent as before.
Whether it is the Christmas game or the usual game, only by giving fans a better experience, meeting the expectations of fans, and doing their best, may have the confidence to compete with other leagues.