OT: NBA Commish Contemplating Shorter Season, Shorter Games And Adopting European Tournament Format

[sawchuk1971]

Shorter Season? Shorter Games? Silver Ponders NBA Format

too bad the nhl does not have a commish like adam silver..

Silver mentioned everything from shorter games to a shorter season Friday as ways the NBA could make its future product better for players and fans.

"The format we have in place now — I'm a traditionalist on one hand, but on the other hand it's 50 years old or so, presenting an 82-game season, and there's nothing magical about it," Silver said.

"I think it's on the league office to always be challenging the way we do things, to be paying attention to changing viewer habits, a changing marketplace, a new world of the way media is presented, often on smaller devices, less on screens, people having shorter attention spans, and saying, 'This is an incredible game, it's never been more exciting, the athleticism has never been greater, fantastic players coming from all around the world, but what's the best way to put the season together?'"

Silver has focused on player health as commissioner, opening the regular season earlier to reduce the frequency of back-to-back games, and lengthening the All-Star break.

But players are still sitting out games throughout the season — either by their choice or because their teams are requiring it — often for reasons being listed as load management.

"I think a fair point from fans could be if ultimately the science suggests that 82 games is too many games for these players, maybe you shouldn't have an 82-game season," Silver said. "I accept that, and that's something we'll continue to look at."

Fewer games could mean less revenue, unless they could be replaced by something that would generate as many or more viewers. Tournaments could be an answer, even if 82 games remains the format.

Silver has pointed to European soccer as something that could bring new interest to the NBA by offering teams more opportunities to win something, instead of just having one champion.

"That's why I'm particularly interested in looking at different kinds of formats — at midseason tournaments, for example, play-in tournaments — because even accepting that players have so many miles on their bodies, there may be better ways to present it," Silver said. "Assuming guys are going to play 82 games, maybe there should be a certain number of games in the regular season and then there should be two tournaments throughout the season."

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[Brodie]

This kind of radical thinking is why the NBA is well positioned to one day become the preeminent league in the US and probably all of North America.

 

[cutchemist42]

So if the NBA does reduce, I dont see how the puckheads keep arguing our sport benefits from the long schedule? This sport would be so much better with more rest.

I dont see the appeal of a Euro tourney though to be honest.

I dont know if I buy the NBAs growth potential as much as most. I mean we have already discussed here Silvers public comments on converting millenials viewing habits to dollars. They arent buying cable packages or attending games at high levels, and their social media presence isn't that well monetized.

 

[awfulwaffle]

So if the NBA does reduce, I dont see how the puckheads keep arguing our sport benefits from the long schedule? This sport would be so much better with more rest.

I dont see the appeal of a Euro tourney though to be honest.

I dont know if I buy the NBAs growth potential as much as most. I mean we have already discussed here Silvers public comments on converting millenials viewing habits to dollars. They arent buying cable packages or attending games at high levels, and their social media presence isn't that well monetized.

The NBA has better leverage from their TV deals than the NHL. Loss of games and gate revenue won't impact other leagues as much as it would the NHL.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

This kind of radical thinking is why the NBA is well positioned to one day become the preeminent league in the US and probably all of North America.

It'll never happen without drastic changes to the competitive makeup of the league. Too many teams are irrelevant in their own markets since it's damn near impossible to compete.

 

[Brodie]

It'll never happen without drastic changes to the competitive makeup of the league. Too many teams are irrelevant in their own markets since it's damn near impossible to compete.

I think what we are seeing in the NBA, and have for a long time, is an evolution to an almost post-local landscape. The association is what matters in the minds of people, which is why I can't walk a block without seeing people in Warriors gear (or Cavs gear a few years ago). Every sport has stars, but increasingly the NBA creates celebrities and that is demonstrably more valuable.

Plus the league generally seems fun, the fanbase is young and social media savvy, and the sport itself is largely going to be immune to the ultimate CTE fallout.

 

[USAUSA1]

I feel the opposite, the NBA is seeing how a no Lebron playoffs is hurting. Weekend NBa playoffs ratings all decline except warriors game. Lebron only has 3 years left and the warriors dynasty is on a verge of a break up. They hoping Zion does well.

I tell people all the time Mlb playoffs ratings are not too far from the NBA.

NFL will always be king.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Sounds like a bunch of terrible idea's to further water down league

 

[JETZZZ]

It would be nice to see a shorter NHL season, probably like 60 games. Each game means just a little more, possibly room
for international hockey again.
Its more likely that the NHL increases the season to 162 like baseball. More tickets to sell, more games to televise or blackout

 

[Ted Hoffman]

So if the NBA does reduce, I dont see how the puckheads keep arguing our sport benefits from the long schedule? This sport would be so much better with more rest.

Same things that have been used in the past.

Tradition. "No one will ever score __ goals/assists/points again." Claims about the NHL being a gate-driven league and needing more games to fund things. [Spoiler: the NHL hasn't been a gate-driven league for a while now, and the impact of gate receipts continues to decline every year.] You can probably figure out a bunch of the rest accordingly.

It would be nice to see a shorter NHL season, probably like 60 games. Each game means just a little more, possibly room
for international hockey again.
Its more likely that the NHL increases the season to 162 like baseball. More tickets to sell, more games to televise or blackout

International hockey sounds great for the fans; unless there's something in it for the NHL, it will rank low in terms of importance to the owners. I'd say it's more likely you see a knockout-style preseason tournament, and I don't think that's particularly likely.

I also think that everyone around the league realizes we're at about the max length for an NHL schedule; there's no way in hell it gets to 84-86, much less 162. I think there's more appetite for reducing the schedule than you would believe; I also think the major stumbling block is the NHLPA, who would be all for that as long as players don't take pro-rata salary decreases.

The NBA has better leverage from their TV deals than the NHL. Loss of games and gate revenue won't impact other leagues as much as it would the NHL.

In a reduced regular season, I would bet that revenue from network TV deals would be reduced pro-rata unless the same number of games is getting broadcast. If so, there's a chance networks have to pick up games in less-than-ideal spots on the calendar - and if that happens, I'd bet they'll want some money back. But that's idle speculation until we see more details and how things shake out. Local TV deals are almost certainly getting reduced pro-rata unless there's some clause in there that says it's $X per season, regardless of # of games played or broadcast.

How it all rolls up? You'll have to ask someone much more well-versed in NBA finances.

 

[awfulwaffle]

In a reduced regular season, I would bet that revenue from network TV deals would be reduced pro-rata unless the same number of games is getting broadcast. If so, there's a chance networks have to pick up games in less-than-ideal spots on the calendar - and if that happens, I'd bet they'll want some money back. But that's idle speculation until we see more details and how things shake out. Local TV deals are almost certainly getting reduced pro-rata unless there's some clause in there that says it's $X per season, regardless of # of games played or broadcast.

How it all rolls up? You'll have to ask someone much more well-versed in NBA finances.

I'd imagine they would too, but that won't impact the NBA very much. If anything it might shrink the cap a little(so good luck getting the NBAPA on board). But the NBA between ESPN and TNT, are looking at 2.6 billion per year, that's just over $86 million per team. Yes, I know not all of that is going to the teams, but their national TV deal could cover the salaries of players. Let's not forget all of the local deals teams have, on top of the gate revenue with concessions as well. The NBA is in a much better position to take a hit with reducing their season length than the NHL would be.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

I'd imagine they would too, but that won't impact the NBA very much. If anything it might shrink the cap a little(so good luck getting the NBAPA on board). But the NBA between ESPN and TNT, are looking at 2.6 billion per year, that's just over $86 million per team. Yes, I know not all of that is going to the teams, but their national TV deal could cover the salaries of players. Let's not forget all of the local deals teams have, on top of the gate revenue with concessions as well. The NBA is in a much better position to take a hit with reducing their season length than the NHL would be.

The owners are probably going to hold out in the next cba negotiation the players being in power is not something they want to go on for to much longer.

 

[Svechhammer]

I'm confused on how this would work.

So do the tournaments throughout the year, and then just play the regular season and crown and regular season and tournament champion and be done with it?

Ehhh... European soccer formats, which this is trying to emulate, work because the franchises all operate independently. There are few, if any, feeder programs, and they're all trying to compete to get to and stay in the top level. Relegation/Promotion is a tournament in and of itself. And the biggest tournament of them all, the Champions League, exists because there are numerous top federations throughout Europe, each with 50-100 franchises within it split into their own leagues.

Basketball doesn't have any of that. The NBA is the one league to rule them all. There really isn't even a minor league. Yes, there is the NBA DL (or G-League) but that exists just to provide a place for NBA franchises to allow their lowest end talent to train. Just taking English football alone, there are 92 clubs between the Premier League, EFL Championship, EFL One and EFL Two, all of which are full time professional clubs. And that's not considering the fact there are 4 or 5 semi-pro leagues under that with literally hundreds of clubs throughout. And that's just England, there's also major federations within Spain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc that all send their top teams into the Champions League.

Those tournaments throughout the year work because its a way to run 3 or 4 things at once (Regular season for the leagues to determine a winner and promotion/relegation, the league cup for the top teams in a federation, the country cup for all teams within the federation, and the Champions League/Europa League for the top teams in Europe). The NBA doesn't have that problem and likely never will, unless they want to go through a drastic expansion and build out lower tier franchises across the US and Canada. Which, given the number of basketball players the NCAA produces each year, might actually work.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

I think the idea is you have an FA Cup style knockout tournament and then maybe a UCL/UEL style group stage one, where you play 4-6 group games and then knockout from that.

So now you've got 3 competitions to win instead of just 1. I personally don't watch NBA games until the Conference Finals but I'd be inclined to watch a 1 game semifinal or final in mid-February when the sports calendar is bare of big events.

 

[Brodie]

Is that the idea? I was thinking more like aperatura and clausura like in Latin American soccer... where they re-set at midseason and then have a playoff at the end of the year based on aggregate seeding

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Silver has been lobbying for a knockout tournament for 5 years now.

The NBA Is Considering Starting A Soccer-Style Midseason Tournament, And It's A Brilliant Idea

 

[Brodie]

I... I like this idea. Would they open it up to the G-League?

 

[KevFu]

Silver has been lobbying for a knockout tournament for 5 years now.

The NBA Is Considering Starting A Soccer-Style Midseason Tournament, And It's A Brilliant Idea

This would work so much better in COLLEGE basketball.

You have 16-team, four-game tournaments over a week of non-conference play. (Play the loser's brackets, so everyone plays four games)

1. Champions League - The 15 programs with multiple championships and the most recent one-time champion.
2. The Championship - (UNLV, Wyoming, Holy Cross, LaSalle, Loyola, UTEP; and 10 of the other 13 one-time champions).

3, 4, 5, 6. Final Four groups 1, 2, 3 and 4
> The 60 remaining teams who’ve made it to a Final Four in their history, plus four extra teams pulled from programs with Elite Eight appearances into four different brackets.

Tourneys 7 thru 22: Place the remaining Power Conference Teams into separate groups, and draw everyone else with one huge draw, limit one team per conference in each bracket.

one third of non-conference scheduling, done. Hell, the rest of OOC scheduling should be done random draw with 50% home, 50% road.

 

[decma]

Silver has been lobbying for a knockout tournament for 5 years now.

The NBA Is Considering Starting A Soccer-Style Midseason Tournament, And It's A Brilliant Idea

I am still not getting who would be involved in the mid season tournament.

If it is just NBA teams, what is the point? Adding G-league teams might make it slightly better.

If it somehow includes some good non-NBA clubs, that would be really cool. But I can't see it happening.

 

[Beauner]

Shorter games? They only play 48 minutes as-is. How about you limit the number of timeouts so there isn't a stoppage every 30 freaking seconds

 

[IU Hawks fan]

I am still not getting who would be involved in the mid season tournament.

If it is just NBA teams, what is the point? Adding G-league teams might make it slightly better.

If it somehow includes some good non-NBA clubs, that would be really cool. But I can't see it happening.

What's always the point? Money.

The regular season is boring. Awarding another championship in February is a lot more interesting than meaningless regular season games.

 

[StreetHawk]

I'd imagine they would too, but that won't impact the NBA very much. If anything it might shrink the cap a little(so good luck getting the NBAPA on board). But the NBA between ESPN and TNT, are looking at 2.6 billion per year, that's just over $86 million per team. Yes, I know not all of that is going to the teams, but their national TV deal could cover the salaries of players. Let's not forget all of the local deals teams have, on top of the gate revenue with concessions as well. The NBA is in a much better position to take a hit with reducing their season length than the NHL would be.

Would be interesting to see the impact of a shortened season on both the NB and NHL. Raptors playing game 4 on the same day as the Leafs playing game 6 of round 1. I'm sure at some point in the very near future, the NBA will finish its season before the NHL despite playing the same number of games and starting their season later.

 

[jkrdevil]

I think the idea is you have an FA Cup style knockout tournament and then maybe a UCL/UEL style group stage one, where you play 4-6 group games and then knockout from that.

So now you've got 3 competitions to win instead of just 1. I personally don't watch NBA games until the Conference Finals but I'd be inclined to watch a 1 game semifinal or final in mid-February when the sports calendar is bare of big events.

North American sports already have the equivalent of the Champions League...it is the respective league playoffs. It is just played immediately following the season rather than the next year simultaneous to the season .

Adding an in-season tournament would be akin to the League cup...which no one cares about.

 

[cutchemist42]

I mean, MLS is the only NA league running a Cup competition that is pretty much ignored in a sport where cup completions are the norm. I dont see why the NBA thinks it would go better for them?

Are cup competitions even a thing in European basketball?

 

[tarheelhockey]

I fully agree that fewer games would be better for the sport and for fans.

Problem is, it’s decidedly NOT better for arenas or TV networks. And if there are two forces capable of stopping any idea cold, it’s the arenas and TV networks.