Student Opinion: Why the NFL is Better than the NBA
Launch the media gallery 1 playerEvery weekend during the fall and winter, the NBA and NFL compete for viewership across America. As an avid sports fan, I watch both leagues, but I have come to believe there are many reasons why NBA viewership has declined steadily in recent years and why the NFL is clearly dominating.
I believe one of the biggest flaws in the NBA is how they market their game. They struggle with marketing their young stars. Young players like Victor Wembenyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Luka Doncic, are outstanding marketing pieces, but the NBA rarely makes social media posts about them or talks about them in general. The next generation of the NBA is slowly taking over, but the NBA rarely mentions it. Instead, they still primarily focus on players like LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant. These players are still some of the best, but they are not as exciting or energizing in my opinion as the younger players.
One of the biggest strengths of the NFL is how they market the next generation of athletes. They know players like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow are going to be at the top of the NFL for many years to come, so they give these players the most screen time. They have mostly moved on from older players like Aaron Rodgers, Von Miller, and more. The NFL cares about viewership, so they market the young, exciting players more, unlike the NBA.
The NFL’s viewership clearly outshines the NBA’s. One of the most obvious reasons for this is because of the ways to watch games between leagues. The NFL is almost always on main channels like ESPN, FOX, and CBS. The NBA is rarely on these channels. If you want to watch every game that a team plays, you need an NBA League Pass subscription, which costs $50 for a season. The NFL on the other hand, is primarily free, or on channels most people would be paying for anyway, so more people can watch.
The NFL’s quality of the sport for the average viewer is also much more entertaining. There are many more moving parts in the NFL, leading to more unpredictability. The NBA has less moving parts, so players can control more aspects of the game, leading to there being less unpredictability and everybody playing the same style of basketball. This style of basketball is the most efficient, but not the most entertaining. The NFL capitalizes off its unpredictability, leading to more excitement.
The NBA and NFL are both great sports leagues, but due to the NBA’s issues and the NFL’s dominance, it has become clear to me in recent years that the NFL is clearly superior.