There is an underlying bias in these type of questions that most people when asked publicly know what type of answer is socially acceptable and which might garner extra layers of probing. It's similar to things like asking people if they support Trump in 2016. They will give the PC or socially acceptable answer but it's a facade.

Maybe this is accurate but it's incongruent with what's happening with NBA ratings. Down 20% year over year, during a time when most people as asked or told to stay home so you would think ratings would actually be up not down.

I wouldnt read too much into support for an NBA boycott. Liberal fanbase, lots of people dont care for the sport anyway, this form of protest is inherently peaceful, the question asked about a specific police shooting, etc.

Support for BLM in general, or for actual policies to address this issue (like defunding the police) do not necessarily have to poll the same. I also wouldnt be so sure that NBA fans will keep being as supportive as they are right now, at the start, if the whole season is aborted due to this.

I'm not convinced of that. People were pretty vocal about standing for the anthem and stuff. I just don't buy the argument that people would lie in an anonymous poll.

I also don't think you can attribute player actions to a decline in ratings entirely (though it could play a part). Sports are SIGNIFICANTLY more boring without a crowd and I think basketball suffers the most from it (baseball seems okay for the most part).

they should continue the boycott until there are zero bad/violent cops employed on earth. athletes are legitimate peaceful protesters and i fully support their protest here just like with kneeling

This post was edited by excellence on Aug 28 2020 10:27am

Is the NBA a liberal fanbase?

I just associate all sports in America as having a conservative base.

I'm not sure if there's a trend and I imagine that most sports fans have almost no political awareness.

The NBA has the most liberal (and most black) fanbase of the four major sports:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-a-strike-for-racial-justice-started-with-the-milwaukee-bucks-and-the-nba/

Two-party vote shares are 60% Democrats vs 40% GOP.
Only the MLS has a marginally more liberal fanbase. (Presumably due to a very high share of latinos coupled with low attractivity to rural whites?!)

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Aug 28 2020 10:33am

No crowds i'm sure plays a role but still i think it's counter weighted by the fact that people can't go out to eat, can't go on vacation, etc so what they're left with is a lot of TV. I love hockey and football and would def watch even without the crowds. I think most people are starved for quality entertainment so it really doesn't make sense how sports viewership should be down meanwhile streaming hours is sky rocketing.



That's not true at all. All you have to do is turn on ESPN and notice the amount of time they actually talk about social issues like BLM, especially over the last 3-4 months.

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Aug 28 2020 10:40am

I dont buy this argument that NBA ratings are collapsing due to fan backlash against their activism. We simply have no other data points to compare the current environment with, we dont know how much the lack of fans hurts the entertainment value of various sports. For example, pro wrestling shows without a crowd were absolutely dreadful to watch. Soccer also suffers a lot from the absence of crowds. I would assume that baseball and football can cope with it far better. By contrast, basektball also seems like a sport where the small playing field and the narrowness of the setting made for an energetic, intimate environment, one where the sudden lack of energy and noise from the stands is very noticeable.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Aug 28 2020 10:44am

Except the ratings were already falling prior to the lockdowns. This is on 12/19



https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bulls/ct-chicago-bulls-nba-tv-ratings-20191204-nluusfjsmja4pf3ynd2b7lcjru-story.html

The activism didn't start the last few months, its been there for a while. Again it's impossible to pin point why exactly it was happening and is continuing to happen but safe to say it's not all on the virus.