Two games into the NBA Finals, and it's clear that despite the entertaining series, the ratings have been disappointing. The NBA's ratings have been down all season and have culminated with embarrassingly bad ratings in this year's Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers.
While neither the Pacers nor the Thunder were huge ratings draws, Game 1 drew the lowest Finals ratings in 27 years. That calls into question the NBA's recent decision to lean into parity.
After all, the league's recent collective bargaining agreement (CBA) made a point of penalizing big market teams that often spend more than their smaller market counterparts. That forced many big market teams into a corner, even some smaller markets too. That has exacerbated the league's ratings problem.
The NBA has its new CBA to thank for its dismal Finals ratings
The NBA has had seven new champions over the last seven years, the longest such streak in the league's 77-year history. That can be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing. This is considering that the NBA, more than any other American sport, is known for its dynasties.
Having a new champion every year may be better for small-market teams, but it's perhaps not better for the NBA by and large. After all, while the NFL can afford to have a team like the Kansas City Chiefs play in the Super Bowl three times in the last five years, the NBA probably can't afford for the Thunder to do the same.
Of course, that's not OKC's fault, nor something the Thunder should concern themselves with, but it's definitely a concern amongst the NBA. Ironically, the NBA put themselves in this position thanks to the restrictive CBA they agreed to. That CBA penalized teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, L.A. Clippers, and Boston Celtics.
Now, with the Celtics being among the league's most expensive teams, they may be forced to move on from several members of their championship four. That underscores a larger problem with teams unable to keep their cores together due to restrictions put in place under the new CBA.
Ultimately, the NBA may be regretting the new CBA. After all, it puts some of the bigger markets at a disadvantage and has made the NBA perhaps too wide open.
We're seeing two teams that, while extremely successful, have yet to draw strong ratings. Were this to continue, then that could force the NBA to change course.