The NBA and the time for change

On Saturday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe reported that the NBA and its players union are in talks to make a few significant changes to the NBA schedule. The items reportedly in consideration include:

- a 78-game schedule

- re-seeding of conference finalists

- an in-season tournament

- postseason play-in

Let me just say that IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME.

My friends and I have complained about the length and the monotony of the NBA season for some time now. It finally seems that this opinion has extended beyond the diehard fan. If I had to guess, the increasing number of entertainment options and the threat of load management have given the league some urgency in reclaiming their fans. Ratings have been down for several years, and the NBA is being proactive in altering the trend.

I like to think that we vote for products and services with our time and money. The declining ratings from the last few years have said more than we ever could about how we want the league to do things.

Looking at the proposed changes, you can see that they’ve been inspired by college football, international soccer, and even the MLB. While none of these things are official, it’s nice to know that the NBA is at least considering ways to make their product more palatable to the masses. It also shows that Adam Silver is willing to tweak rules and policies that no longer satiate fans.

See what happens when we don’t give our attention to brands that don’t serve us?