Sports Business Daily took a look at NBA teams’ television ratings this season, and the news for the Indiana Pacers broadcasts isn’t good. But they aren’t surprising either.
The ratings for Indiana’s games on Fox Sports Midwest are down 37% from last season, one of the biggest drops in the league.
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Though the drop off is major, the overall rating for Indiana’s games remain strong by recent and leaguewide standards.
According to an Indiana Business Journal piece last month, the team’s 2.8 rating this year (about 30,000 households) is the second best it has been for Fox Sports Indiana (FSI) over the past nine seasons. And this 2.8 number makes the Pacers local-market TV ratings the eighth best in the NBA, according to Fox Sports.
Still, this is nowhere near as good as viewership was a year ago for Indiana.
As this point last year, per Fox Sports, broadcasts were up to a 4.4 rating, and they finished the regular season at 4.2.
If you haven’t guessed, the absence of Paul George is most likely the reason for the numbers drop, as the Pacers are on the outside looking in on the playoffs.
However with Paul George expecting to return in March, and Indiana playing better with George Hill back in the line-up, they may soon close the gap on the eighth seed.
Getting Paul George back on the court and earning a playoff spot will almost certainly boost the numbers.
The report noted that teams going through the biggest transitions on the court have have had the biggest changes in viewers, including a 323% increase in the Milwaukee Bucks’ viewership on Fox Sports Wisconsin, as well as the 150% increase for Fox Sports Ohio thanks to LeBron James’ return. The biggest negative change belonged to the Minnesota Timberwolves as Fox Sports North has seen a 54% drop.
(This post has been edited from its original version to included last year’s numbers and provide better context for the drop off.)
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