Warriors on TV: NBA drops two games from national schedule
Without Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Golden State is no longer must-see TV
No longer a marquee attraction, the injury-riddled Golden State Warriors are losing out on the kind of prime-time exposure they’ve enjoyed for years.
The NBA has removed two Warriors games from the upcoming national TV schedule and it’s easy to see why. Without superstars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Golden State owns the league’s worst record at 4-18 and aren’t exactly must-see TV material.
The Warriors were scheduled to play on ESPN against Utah on Dec. 13 and against Portland on Dec. 18. The league announced Tuesday that both games would be replaced. The Los Angeles Clippers’ game at Minnesota was added on Dec. 13, and Boston at Dallas was moved to the national schedule on Dec. 18.
When it comes to television interest, the NBA is in somewhat of a crisis mode. Ratings for games on TNT are down 23 percent so far this season and down 20 percent on ESPN.
The Warriors’ dramatic downfall has been cited as a contributing factor. Banking on the team to once again be a big draw, the NBA scheduled Golden State for five national games over the first four weeks of the season. The Warriors lost all five games and four of them were blowouts.
Locally, the story is even more dismal. In recent years, the Warriors were the No. 1 draw among NBA teams on regional sports networks. But so far this season, ratings for Warriors games on NBC Sports Bay Area are down 51 percent, according to Sports Business Journal.
Unless things drastically improve for the Warriors, fans can expect the team to be dropped from more national TV slots. According to the Associated Press, Golden State is scheduled to be on TNT 11 more times this season, beginning with a Jan. 16 game against Denver.
The one game the league can’t alter — but probably wishes it could — is Golden State’s Christmas-day game against the Houston Rockets, which is scheduled to air on ABC.