Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images
The National Basketball Association Deputy Commissioner was asked to describe the league’s 2019-20 season in one word and found it too difficult.
Remember, before the pandemic and social unrest plagued the world, the NBA lost two of its icons in former commissioners David Stern and Kobe Bryant. And around this time last year, a rift began with its international business partner China. The NBA has said feuds could cost $ 400 million.
“I would say it was a challenging year,” Tatum said in an interview with CNBC. “It was our longest season in NBA history and so much was done to us together as a league.”
After the Covid-19 hiatus on March 11, the NBA was able to resume its season on a bubble campus in Orlando. Early estimates suggest that the NBA protected $ 1.5 billion by resuming its season instead of canceling it, according to the Sports Business Journal.
Now comes the hard part – figuring out the finances and setting a salary cap for the next year.
Tatum said the NBA is still working on the exam with the National Basketball Players Association. The parties must also agree on a start date for the next season.
The league has learned a lot from its bubble environment, according to Tatum, envisioning new features that wireless carriers have installed in sports arenas and stadiums across the country due to the availability of 5G.
The NBA has partnered with AT&T to create hologram interviews during television shows on Turner Sports and ESPN. This could open the door to more marketing revenue as companies could use the NBA’s teams and players to activate sponsorship and get fan engagement.
Tatum said, “In general, 99% of our fans never enter an NBA arena.” So the league needs to continue researching how to make its content available to fans outside of TV.
Noel Vasquez | GC Images | Getty Images
The future seat at the court
Facebook can use the content to better authenticate the court experience and integrate it into its Oculus virtual reality headsets. The company released a cheaper version of the headset, the Oculus Quest 2, for $ 299 on October 13.
The expansion of 5G should help Facebook improve its presentation in court, said Stuart Burden, senior software engineer at digital enterprise consultancy Nerdery.
“That was the problem with [virtual reality] NBA games, “Burden said of problem solving.” They hardly can [determine] the face of the player. It was a little fuzzy, but the exciting thing was that you felt a little deeper given that perspective. ”
Rob Shaw, Facebook’s head of Global Sports Media and League Partnerships, said the company will build in better camera lenses to improve video quality.
“If you want to see a game from the front row, you have to feel like you are watching it from the front row,” Shaw said. He used filmmaker Spike Lee’s seat in Madison Square Garden, where he is watching the New York Knicks, as an example of what is to come.
“What to see, what to hear, to be on par with the best athletes in the world,” said Shaw. “I hope this experience will be brought to the platform in three to five years – so people all over the world can have the same experience as Spike Lee watching a Knicks game.”
Once Facebook has figured out how to monetize the court seat, this will be another advertising opportunity – one aimed personally at the NBA fan who is participating in a game through a virtual reality seat.
Shaw says the NBA teams have been looking to add the VR seats for season ticket holders as clubs prepare to start the season with no spectators or attendance and proximity are restricted due to Covid-19.
“I think that’s one of those ways we’re scratching the surface right now,” said Tatum. “As bandwidth speeds get faster and 5G gets faster, that experience becomes more intense, and I think the opportunities for people to experience this and adapt to virtual reality will grow.”
The NBA is also planning to further develop virtual signage. Both the NBA and the National Hockey League are monitoring the technology regarding interchangeable virtual ads that can be used to open advertisements.
Kevin Frayer | Getty Images
Back online in China
NBA manager Daryl Morey started a rift with the NBA’s foremost international partner when he supported protesters in Hong Kong on Twitter last October. China responded by discontinuing NBA games that were broadcast on CCTV. The NBA’s streaming partner, Chinese tech giant Tencent, also temporarily blocked games.
The Lakers’ popularity in China also helped the NBA games return. In addition to China’s admiration for Bryant, the team has expanded its social media by more than 800,000, according to sports and digital consultancy Mailman.
Morey resigned from his role as the Houston Rockets GM on October 15, six days after the CCTV games resumed. The concern, however, is whether the NBA has fully recovered from the fallout in China. The NBA did not respond to a request for audience numbers for the two finals broadcast in China.
The league can’t afford to further damage a $ 4 billion operation in the world’s second largest economy, especially since it has just opened international marketing for its teams and its eyes on live streaming e-commerce – has addressed opportunities.
The shopping model enables businesses and influencers to stream with consumers about potential purchases. According to Bloomberg, the shopping experience generated $ 60 billion in global sales.
Through its Tencent partnership, the NBA is present on WeChat (400 million active users per day) and was recently launched on the short video and live streaming platform Kuaishou. The TikTok rival is a live streaming ecommerce giant in China. In September, he announced that orders placed through his platform hit 500 million in August and have 300 million active users per day.
Sarah Stier | Getty Images
Don’t worry at home
A drop in viewership in the sport has hurt the Lakers Heat final, which the NBA has had no attendance at since 1994. The league’s stance on social injustice issues may also play a minor role.
Tatum said the league was not concerned about the drop in attendance. He offered additional social media metrics to prove the “huge interest” in the league, citing the billions of video views and more than 300 million YouTube views during the playoffs, up 63% year over year , he said.
The NBA defends the drop in ratings due to changes in the way people consume exercise.
“These are things that affect not only us, but every other sports league,” said Tatum. “But we understand that the numbers are what they are.”
Tatum said the season was a “total anomaly,” but if so, NBA viewers need a sharp comeback. Networking experts believe the demand for content from the NBA won’t suffer, especially as sports gambling increases.
Also, the NBA wants to look into adding play-in games over the next season, as the model has done well during its bubble, attracting positive viewership for a Saturday game between two small market teams – the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies.
With the longest season in NBA history over, Tatum saw the challenges ahead. When asked to sum up the future of the league in one word, the difficulty disappeared.
“Excited,” said Tatum.
“We have incredible potential for the future,” he said. “I think the growth we see in our business is only going to get bigger.”
These were the details of the news The NBA made it through its pandemic season, now it looks... for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at de24.news and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
