Is Basketball Losing its Edge?

Televised sports are a favorite pastime around the world. That said, ratings are becoming increasingly important to sports. With millions of people tuning in for every game and its players earning an average of $3.4 million a year, the NBA is number one when it comes to American sports. Or maybe I should say that it was. It all started with the NBA lockout of 1998. Since then the game has steadily declined in popularity while lesser known sports have started moving in on the territory. One example of these sports is hockey, which has risen steadily in popularity ever since. According to CBS Sports, the puck has risen a solid 19% from last year's ratings. The fact of the matter is, most of these new hockey fans were once loyal to the NBA..

The NHL is not the sole source of erosion for the NBA fan base. While they may run in different seasons, baseball and football are still vying for the title. Baseball has been steadily siphoning fans from basketball since the Red Sox won the World Series. Football is no different, with the Super Bowl pulling in more and more every year. Despite NBA players earning more than NFL and MLB players combined (information courtesy of KayCircle), the other two are finding other ways to close the gap.

You might be surprised to learn that pro golf is actually closing the gap faster than the NFL or MLB. Golf viewership has risen almost 10% just from the return of Tiger Woods to the green. And, thanks to all recent scandals, Tiger's return might continue to have even more steep of an effect.

But at the heart of the matter, what is the real cause of basketball's decline? The steady decrease in NBA fans over time is actually an interior matter. The bottom line is that no sport was basketball's equal during its best years. The real reason basketball has taken a dive is apathy. Apathy among the fans, the worst-case scenario.

So stop running off to lacrosse games when you could be watching hoops. Stop watching Law and Order when you could be watching the Lakers game. Give basketball back its strength. Help bring back the golden age of basketball, when Michael Jordan still played for the Bulls. Help restore the real American Basketball.