Donaghy: it would be "very, very difficult" for the Blazers to win a championship

San Antonio is the 7th largest market in the country. How is that "small market"?

 

Please review my great player/great coach caveat posted earlier in this thread.

 

It's not surprising that you continue to perpetuate this myth. 7th largest city in the country.

 

I don't know where you people are getting SA the 7th largest city in the US. They are in the 30-40 range in population size and TV market both behind Portland. Maybe you are talking about land area size lol.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

 

San An is more populated than Dallas? Woah. That doesn't seem right at all. Or, rather, I would never in a million years have guessed that. Why does San An only have one major sports team? I thought Portland was the largest city/market in the U.S. that only has one major sports team. Some thing isn't right here.

 

That list is within the actual city limits and does not take in to account any suburban area. I'm certain San An isn't the 7th largest MARKET in the U.S. but it's possible that more people live in the city limits of San An than Dallas, even though that too is hard to believe.

This list I think is a more fair representation of market size.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas

 

How would the amount of Portlanders with Phili roots/family compare to the amount of Philadelphians with PDX roots/family? I suspect there are significantly more Portlanders who grew up in Philadelphia then vise versa.

The dynamic of how the country has filled up (East to West) is another factor working against the Blazer's draw/ratings

STOMP

 

The US Census Bureau groups metro areas into Metropolitan Statistical Areas to account for regional population rather than just the population of an incorporated city. The Portland area ranks 23rd in the country. The San Antonio area is 28th.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas

 

Again, refer to my great player/great coach caveat. Or don't.

 

College Football: Where your team is fucked over by the BCS instead of biased officials

 

Isn't Portland a bigger market since the entire STATE roots for the team while Texas is divided into three fan bases?

San Antonio may have a big population but they get the WORST ratings in the NBA. New York is pretty bad too.

Worst rated Finals of all time (starting with the worst, in millions):

1. 2007- San Antonio vs Cleveland 9.29- so much for San Antonio being a big market and LeBron being a big draw

2. 2003- San Antonio vs New Jersey 9.86- again, SA and NJ have huge populations but that doesn't seem to matter

3. 2005- San Antonio vs Detroit 12.54- damn, you'd think the NBA would fix games against San Antonio

4. 2006- Miami vs Dallas 12.97- one of the most entertaining finals of the last 10 years and featuring a star in Dwyane Wade

5. 2002- Lakers vs New Jersey 15.68- the Lakers with bad ratings??? Yep, perhaps because the series was viewed as non competitive, I guess? But 19.00 tuned in for Lakers-Sixers which was also a blowout. Iverson the big draw? Also- 17.94 tuned into watch the Pistons beat the Lakers in 5.

If the league is fixing playoff games for ratings, they're doing a terrible job. And which teams should they be fixing for?? The Knicks, the biggest city in the country, have gotten terrible ratings when in the Finals. The 1994 Finals had the Knicks but lost 10 million viewers from the year before and the 1999 Finals had the KNicks but lost 13 million viewers from the year before.

So you have something to compare these numbers to, here are the top 3 (starting with the best)?:

1. 1998 Chicago vs Utah 29.04- Wow. I guess MJ was just a little more popular than Kobe or LeBron are.

2. 1993 Chicago vs Phoenix 27.21- Great series. Jordan, Pippen, Barkley

3. 1997 Chicago vs Utah 25.59

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/04/20/nba-postseason-broadcast-ratings-1987-2007/3413

Maybe what the league needs is a true powerhouse. The Knicks have never had a true marketable star , as great as Ewing was. If you put LeBron, Wade, and Bosh on the Knicks with Phil Jackson as coach, they will break the record for longest win streak (33) and break the 1996 Bulls for best regular season record ever. Plus, they'll be the first team since the 1960s Celtics to win 4 championships in a row.

 

the entire state of Oregon has under 4 million people while Texas has over 24 million...

STOMP

 

Technically TD is correct. Portland winning a title would be Very, Very Difficult.

Just like it happens to be for every other team in the NBA.


I don't believe for one second that the NBA gives one shit who wins the title. Honestly, I am not entirely sure they care a whole lot about who gets further in the playoffs.

I do think they care a great deal about individual player's success and do everything they can to ensure the players they are hyping have success.

Does anyone know if there is a place to find out about TV revenue and revenue from mechandise sales?

My theory (completely unfounded at this point) is that TV revenue is either not much more or slightly less valuable then mechandise sales are. That would make pimping various players far more important to the league then how long a team is on TV.

 

I would tend to agree that having a great player and a great coach would help in winning a title.

 

Cleveland and San Antonio are about the same market size as Portland. Doesn't make that much sense.

Cleveland does because LeBron is bigger than any one city. But San Antonio is a boring, small market NBA team who has won like 4 titles in the past 12 years.

 

Taken from the playoffs rigged thread (and actually shortened)

TD isn't saying we CAN'T win a championship, he's saying is VERY difficult. I agree for the above reasons.

 

Donaghy didn't use the word "rigged." Nor did I. I don't think it's rigged to an exact model or outcome. But it's heavily weighed in a specific direction. It's not an exact science, but it's enough of a problem that to overcome it would be next to impossible, IMO.

 

And yet 8 million more people watched the Blazers-Pistons Finals than watched Spurs-Cavs, the lowest rated Finals of all time.