GuidoWorld

Stern Fortune

June 25, 2008 on 3:10 pm | In General |

David Stern’s rule as NBA commissioner has truly been an example of the right person (wrong person) at the right time. Mr. Stern basks in the good fortune of leading the NBA during a time when its global popularity has grown substantially. Yet, if one takes a closer look at what truly contributed to pro basketball’s rise in popularity, Mr. Stern looks more like a fortunate beneficiary and less like a business genius.

Most major sports have enjoyed a rise in popularity since WWII. One would have to say that both a rise in the standard of living and the birth of national television coverage gave people the time and resources to become more avid fans.

The exposure to the daily world of sports has exploded with each advance in new technology ever since the ticker tape and radio became common tools, and the newspaper became a daily consumable.

Yet, the explosion of sports coverage and its general exposure really took off with live television coverage of major sporting events. Of the major three sports baseball was most understandable by radio coverage. The speed and focused almost linear action of the game was easy to depict through radio play-by-play. An announcer could give a fair description of the action by following the ball during each pitch and play. I remember feeling quite comfortable following the action of a game when listening to a broadcast on my transistor radio.

Basketball and football, on the other hand, had far more complex action which made it hard to follow and get an accurate image of while I listened to a play-by-play. In the early days of professional sports television coverage baseball still enjoyed a slight advantage. Though the cameras had difficulty covering the actual flight of the ball the cameras easily tracked the action by following the movement of the players on the journey to the ball and the action of the players as the went around the bases.

Early black and white television coverage did not initially improve the accessibility of football and basketball. The instability of the early cameras made the action jump around a little and could leave a viewer a little dizzy. The black and white cameras had the football too often blend in to the field and to the darker uniforms. The dim lighting of indoor arenas doomed much of the early attempts to capture basketball action on camera. The screen was often dominated by shadows with occasional glimpses of players leaping out of the shadows. Though baseball could have used more cameras the lack of cameras was more profound to football and basketball telecasts.

The advent of color cameras and TV’s produced a dramatic improvement in live sports coverage and greatly enhanced a viewers ability to follow the action. The color differentiation greatly enhanced one’s ability to follow the complex action of basketball and football. The enhanced clarity of each new generation of camera made it possible to see players faces and even their expressions.

In the long run it was the improvements in technology which allowed football and basketball to become fun spectator sports. Techniques such as instant replay, slow-motion and stop action highlighted the artistry and athleticism of the two sports.

The speed of life was greatly increasing for the average American, and many wanted their sports to be faster and more action packed. Football and basketball filled the bill.

I believe changes in lifestyle and technology had more to with the growth in popularity of football and basketball than did marketing and advertising. While both sports benefited from advances in modern television cameras the poor lighting of the average basketball arena made it the last to be visually appealing.

I believe that one could make a strong case that David Stern’s tactics have done more to squander the opportunity that laid before him, than capitalize on it. I do acknowledge he has done an admirable job of marketing a product, yet in my estimation he has injured the very product he has marketed. In the long run I think the popularity of basketball would have been better served by having a commissioner who understood and valued the integrity and artistry of the sport.

J im Guido