What the NBA’s viewership shake-up means for fans — and advertisers

In today’s fragmented media market, consistent, “always on” access is everything — and inconsistency is a killer. Few organizations are proving that more clearly than the NBA, as teams test different strategies for engaging fans and growing viewership. The Portland Trail Blazers, for one, made their games radically easier to watch, while the Chicago Bulls went the other way.

The results speak for themselves, with ripple effects for fans and advertisers.

The Blazers opened up access to games to 100% of their TV market by going over-the-air, leading to the biggest viewership increase in the NBA this season. In contrast, the Bulls moved to the new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN), but without a key carriage deal with Comcast in place, the Bulls experienced the league’s biggest viewership decline.

Through March 24, Blazers games are up 116% year –over year, according to the team. That’s a drastic change from last season, when Portland ranked dead last in the league in viewership, hampered by a local rights deal with Root Sports that reached just 20% of households in the market.

Last August, the Blazers walked away from Root Sports — and reportedly $20 million to $25 million annually — in favor of free broadcast access and their own streaming service, BlazerVision. Fans from Seattle to southern Oregon can now watch every local game live, either on local TV or via the app.

These moves are a long-term bet.

“We’re going to take that hit, but we’re going to bet on ourselves,” Blazers CMO Kevin Kinghorn tells The Current. “[When] we get more games to more homes and get more people involved, all boats rise with the tide.”

Kinghorn is fighting for fan connection in a distracted world, as well as the need to grow new fans. When fans are engaged, they’re more likely to attend games, buy merchandise and follow the team across digital channels. The goal is to create a flywheel of fandom, according to Kinghorn.

And the numbers bear that out. In fact, sports fans ranked “being able to watch games easily” as the most important factor in the fan experience, according to a recent survey by Ipsos.

Kicking the cord

Regional sports networks (RSNs) have been ravaged by cord-cutting in recent years. As a result, four NBA teams (Portland, New Orleans, Dallas and Utah) ditched their RSNs for broader distribution and reach through broadcast and streaming over making money through RSN rights deals.

“Instead of putting all of our eggs in an RSN and collecting a big check, we’re thinking about the business differently when we’re thinking about it across multiple verticals and multiple content channels,” Kinghorn says.

The Blazers President of Business Operations Dewayne Hankins told Sports Business Journal his goal is to make up the RSN rights fee in two to three years through these measures.

To support the transition, Portland distributed 10,000 free antennas, some hand-delivered by players. Before the season started, they launched a media blitz across social, connected TV and digital out-of-home, with specific instructions on how to watch games.

The team controls all its ad inventory, with an in-house sales team selling ad spots across linear that also appear on the streaming service. It also has plans down the road to develop custom ad formats for BlazerVision in the future. Around 6,000 people have subscribed to the streaming service, according to SBJ.

The team is not in a rush though to expedite monetizing its streaming advertising business, Kinghorn insists. He says the Blazers are taking a simple approach to rebuilding their foundation after 17 years putting their games on RSNs.

Out of sight, out of mind

Chicago, on the other hand, shows what happens when fans can’t find the games. Bulls viewership is down 63%, the biggest drop in the league, as of Feb. 1.

After NBC Sports Chicago folded last year after 20 years, the Bulls, Blackhawks and White Sox joined the newly formed Chicago Sports Network. But the network hasn’t secured a carriage deal with Comcast, leaving a major gap in distribution.

The Bulls games are technically available over the air and on CHSN’s streaming app. But the perception persists that their games are hard — even impossible — to find. That has played into declining viewership, sources say.

CHSN did not respond to requests for comment. But the uncertainty has even hit the locker room. A Blackhawks player told The Athletic recently that he didn’t want the team to “just slip into oblivion” by being on CHSN.

Building media plans with streaming

The Blazers’ strategy isn’t just about fans — it’s also about advertisers. The shift to streaming has opened new doors to reach NBA audiences.

Jacob Lane, a digital media strategist at Doe Anderson, says local NBA media buys are increasingly judged by price, reach and audience. A traditional ad spot in an Indiana Pacers game can run thousands of dollars, making it tough for smaller brands to get involved. Streaming has leveled the playing field.

“We’re able to build out specific plans and target ESPN inventory, Fox Sports or DirecTV,” Lane tells The Current. “[We can] gain programmatic access into some of these games while not focusing all of our budget there but also being able to show up in other places locally and nationally.”