Prolonging the regular season

[Otsego Mar]

Just to clarify. I didn't suggest to change the number of games, but to spread them over 12 months rather than the current 6-8 months. I think players will prefer that because it's not as draining physically, and fans who hate the boring summer but don't have enough time to watch 3-4 games a week will prefer that as well. Not sure about the commercial side of this though.

I am not from the states so I don't watch baseball or football. But correct me if I am wrong, but these sports don't continue on summer, so I don't think there should be much concern over the overlap.

I disagree. Players want to play just as much as fans want to watch. Having 3-4 days between games consistently would be boring and would make for a long, drawn out season. Players would rather have that 2-3 month down time to regenerate and relax as well.

 

[Maximus]

Just to clarify. I didn't suggest to change the number of games, but to spread them over 12 months rather than the current 6-8 months. I think players will prefer that because it's not as draining physically, and fans who hate the boring summer but don't have enough time to watch 3-4 games a week will prefer that as well. Not sure about the commercial side of this though.

I am not from the states so I don't watch baseball or football. But correct me if I am wrong, but these sports don't continue on summer, so I don't think there should be much concern over the overlap.

I asked 3 players today...they all said you're out of your mind. Not just for physical reasons, but mentally they need a break too. The season is a grind. You need a month to educate rookies and do summer league. Need training camp and a preseason too. Season ticket holders would also hate it for many reasons.

The season seems like it just ended and players are already showing up and working out. The whole team will be here again in a couple weeks. Break's almost over. There is no 4-6 month break.

 

[TyGuy]

I asked 3 players today...they all said you're out of your mind. Not just for physical reasons, but mentally they need a break too. The season is a grind. You need a month to educate rookies and do summer league. Need training camp and a preseason too. Season ticket holders would also hate it for many reasons.

The season seems like it just ended and players are already showing up and working out. The whole team will be here again in a couple weeks. Break's almost over. There is no 4-6 month break.

I don't see anything wrong with the status quo and leaving it up to the teams to strategically reduce minutes and rest players and when they are showing signs of fatigue. In fact, fans could use a break too; it builds excitement for the next season and allows you to enjoy other things.

 

[brownindian]

I am sure the marketing folks would have done enough research to feel that this is the best way to make good money. Unless the viewership trends change I dont see the format changing as well.

 

[Derek]

The playoffs feel like they take forever as it is with 1-2 days off in between each game of a series. I can't imagine what a full season of that schedule would be like.

 

[Evgeni]

The playoffs feel like they take forever as it is with 1-2 days off in between each game of a series. I can't imagine what a full season of that schedule would be like.

In playoffs you have very few teams playing, especially towards the end. In the regular season you'll still have a few games each day. In Europe there are usually no more than 2 games a week. That makes sense to me, because most people can't watch more than one game a week anyway. I am not talking about die hard fans, but the the casual fans, yet the casual fans are the 90% who make the most money for the business.

 

[Derek]

In playoffs you have very few teams playing, especially towards the end. In the regular season you'll still have a few games each day. In Europe there are usually no more than 2 games a week. That makes sense to me, because most people can't watch more than one game a week anyway. I am not talking about die hard fans, but the the casual fans, yet the casual fans are the 90% who make the most money for the business.

Most people can't watch more than 1 game/week? I think you're misreading this situation terribly. If anything, a condensed season would make more sense than a prolonged one.

 

[The Oi]

Good subtle troll.

 

[faughta0509]

I'd love to see less games in the regular season. I think the quality of play would benefit from the reduced wear and tear, and the careers of some of the big names might be extended an extra season as a result. The guys that lose out are those who have a few year window in the league to make their money. With the latter type player outnumbering the former and the reduced revenue, I don't see the NBAPA or the owners going for it.

I'm also not a fan of a seven game series for the first round of the playoffs, and to a lesser extent the second round too.

 

[cavsfever]

I would like to see a 60 game regular season and then a longer offseason. Why do we need more? NBA players generally wear down by their early 30s and are often injured for the playoffs, that's at least partially due to the long regular season with lots of meaningless games.

 

[Jstock12]

double post

 

[Jstock12]

I would like to see a 60 game regular season and then a longer offseason. Why do we need more? NBA players generally wear down by their early 30s and are often injured for the playoffs, that's at least partially due to the long regular season with lots of meaningless games.

I would be in favor of shortening the season to around 60 games. Realistically though, I doubt that's going to happen. For one, owners do not like to lose money, and second, a lot of statistical history of NBA is based on a 82-game regular season. If you change that now, you don't really have anything to compare team/player's accomplishments to, for example, the Bulls 72-10 season. It would also become very hard for anyone to make a top10 in the all-time scoring list for example and similar stuff like that.

 

[Futuredome]

I think extended the NBA offseason by a half month would not be a bad thing. The trick is finding the way to do it. For the studs, cutting the playoffs out a round and making the NBA playoffs "elite" is something I know they would love. Then making the first round, aka conference semis 5 games. That would probably knock about 10 days off the final. The only way that happens is if the money declines. Playoffs are all about money.

So cutting the regular season down to 72 games is the more logical possibility.