One Smart, One Dumb

There were two major announcements yesterday that I found interesting.  One was a really smart decision.  The other didn't make much sense.  It seemed an unnecessary money grab, and I'm not even sure how many people actually wanted it.  But, that doesn't seem to matter.  Because they're doing it anyway.

I'm, of course, talking about the NBA's decision to hold an All-Star Game this season.  When the schedule first came out, they had the season divided into two halves, with a break in the middle.  No All-Star Game was planned.  Somewhere along the line, though, they changed their minds and put the wheels in motion for an All-Star Game in Atlanta on March 7.

Holding an All-Star Game this season, frankly, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  For starters, they began the season 10 weeks later than usual, yet only chopped of 10 games.  Yes, they're going later into the summer.  But that's still a very condensed time frame, made even more condensed by the short turnaround from the end of last season.  And the All-Star Game is, obviously, going to include the top players, aka the ones who'll most be in need of the rest.

Then there's the fact that the NBA has had to postpone 22 games involving nearly half the league because of positive tests and/or contact tracing.  There will almost certainly be more.  Those games obviously have to be made up.  Part of the reason they were having an All-Star Break with no All-Star Game was so that they'd have more flexibility to reschedule those games.  Now they all have to be crammed into the second half, which may be why the second half schedule hasn't been released yet.

The NBPA obviously had to agree for an All-Star Game to be played, but you can tell the players don't really have any enthusiasm about it.  LeBron is one of many top players who's on the record for being unhappy.  He called it a "slap in the face," while also admitting he'd be there (physically at least) if he's selected, which he almost certainly will be.  LeBron said he "doesn't understand" why the NBA wants to have an All-Star Game this season and doesn't think it's particularly smart to bring the entire league to one place in the middle of a pandemic (the bubble worked because it was closed, so that's not an apt comparison).

Of course, we all know the reason why the NBA wants to still have an All-Star Game.  Money.  The league makes a lot of money off the All-Star Game, and so does Turner.  If there's no All-Star Game, TNT can't show those ads and would have to make it up to the sponsors.  And the league is still expecting the broadcast ratings to be solid, especially since there are still crowd size limitations (yet another reason why having an All-Star Game is stupid.  Why do you want to play one with limited fans?), meaning people who would otherwise be at the game have to watch it on TV instead.

Which doesn't make this sit any better with the players.  They're still very critical of the league and its seeming lack of concern about their health.  Kawhi Leonard called it out for what it is.  "They're just putting money over health right now, pretty much," he said.  And that pretty much sums it up.

Meanwhile, NBC made a major announcement that was a welcome surprise (well, maybe not for people on the West Coast).  They'll be showing the Olympic Opening Ceremony live.  They didn't even do that in Rio, which is only an hour ahead of the East Coast!  But in Tokyo, it'll be on TV live at 7 am (and it's live in all time zones, so it's really bright and early at 4 am out West)!  This is huge news, and it represents a major shift for NBC.

One of America's favorite pastimes during any Olympics is criticizing NBC's coverage, particularly their use of tape delay.  Some of the criticism is fair.  A lot of it is not.  (When the Olympics are in Europe they don't show anything live in prime time because they can't!  It's the middle of the night there!  Why is that so hard to understand?!)  And perhaps the biggest source of that frustration is the Opening Ceremony, which, until now, people have only been able to watch on tape-delay during the prime time broadcast.

NBC did make live coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony available on its website, but didn't show it on TV until that night.  That's been their standard at all Olympics outside North America ever since NBC got the U.S. broadcast rights in 1988 (they did show the 1988 Opening Ceremony live from Seoul, but that was on Saturday morning local time, which is Friday night in the U.S.).  And everyone pretty much assumed they'd do it again in Tokyo.

They'll still have the prime time Opening Ceremony broadcast, but it won't be the first time people can watch it.  It'll air live during the morning window for the first time.  Whether this is a response to the criticism or a change in strategy (or both) is irrelevant.  The point is NBC is finally giving people a choice.  If they want to watch the Opening Ceremony live as it's happening, they actually can.  On their TV.

Whether this is a one-time experiment in Tokyo or their plan for all Olympics moving forward remains to be seen, but I bet it's the latter.  The next Olympics are also in Asia, so that's another Friday morning broadcast, while the 2024 and 2026 Games are in Europe, so it'll be at roughly 3:00 Eastern.  It's a tight turnaround, but they could show it live, go to news, then come right back with a prime time replay.  And the 2028 Olympics are in LA, so that'll obviously be live.

Whatever the reason, this was a brilliant move by the powers-that-be at NBC.  All the stars aligned for it--the anticipation for these Olympics is even greater after the one-year delay, the time difference makes a morning broadcast possible, a lot of people will likely still be spending a majority of their day at home--so it's worth giving it a shot.  And I have a feeling it'll end up being ratings gold!  Either way, their strategy will be justified.  And that may dictate what they do moving forward, too.

Money was likely as much of a consideration in NBC's thinking as it was in the NBA's.  However, there's a big difference between the two decisions.  Showing the Olympic Opening Ceremony live in the morning doesn't put anybody at risk.  Playing the NBA All-Star Game, though, is as unnecessary as it is stupid.