NBA - There are image problems with some of the players and now a gambling allegation which, as someone said in the other thread could be one of the biggest sports scandals in history. Also we are coming off one of the lowest rated finals in spite of having stars like LeBron, Parker, Timmy NFL - One of their biggest stars is facing a serious allegation in dog fighting and Goodell is aggressively going after the “badboys” of the NFL which, at least in the short-term, appears only to be highlighting the number of so-called “thugs” in the league. MLB - Steroids, Steroids, Steroids. Attendance is up but ratings are somewhat down. Of course a Cubs/ Red Sox world series would probably be one of the highest ever. NASCAR - ratings are down (http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/business/06/26/nascar.tv.ratings/index.html) but ratings with young men are up. NHL - Again a ratings issue. Their games are televised on Versus which is not available in as many households as they probably would like.
it depends, the NBA will look very bad if the gamblings of the referee is true, the NFL of course is known for having lots of troubled thugs, but in this case in my opinion, betting on games and gettin busted is a very very very serious issue.
The NBA. When you have the very people that can change the outcomes of games gambling on the games they are reffing, it is a big BIG problem. What's worse is if more refs are found to be guilty of this as well...that is, if Donaghy rats them out.
The NBA - Something that makes the whole credibility of the league's products, I think there isn't too much worse that could happen.
Of the "Big Three" (Baseball, Basketball, and Football), the NBA is clearly in the most trouble. They're coming off one of the worst finals ratings in years, and this betting scandal will probably make it worse. The NFL, for all it's troubles is far and away the most popular sport in America. And MLB is still holding on to it's popularity in baseball strongholds like the Northeast.
I will add that I wish the NFL was in the most trouble. I hate pro football. I used to love it the way I love the Rockets and basketball, but now I can't stand it. I love college football, but I hate the NFL today, and the way the games are, and a good number of the players that are in it.
It's clearly the NHL. All the problems you highlight with other leagues - steroids, referee impropriety and some downright odious people involved - if they occurred in hockey, who would notice? Yeah, these are serious problems for the leagues involved, but it's better than the overwhelming apathy that hockey gets. The NHL is pretty irrelevant as far as the national sports scene goes and instead of competing with MLB, the NFL or the NBA - it's competing(and losing) to the MLS.
I like how people dismiss MLB and say NBA is the worst. You had one person affecting (supposedly) limited games outcomes. Now let's look at baseball... you have an entire era affected by steroid-laden hitters. You have quite possibly the most elite record in US sports about to be taken over by someone who possibly could've been on 'roids. You had an entire nation (including myself) suckered into watching Sosa and McGwire's battle. Rafael "read my lips I didn't do steroids" Palmeiro... lol.... even funnier. Let's face it... baseball wins this hands-down... possibly over a decade's-worth of stats have been affected across teams. With the NBA, the guy that officiated the games was a crook. In baseball, the players of the sport themselves were the thieves. It'd be hard to tell if a plate umpire had the fix in anyway... hell strikes and balls are so damn subjective at times, it's become part of the game. lol. NFL? Michael Vick is an idiot. NASCAR and NHL? I dunno... I don't watch them.
As opposed to the people actually playing the sport itself cheating like in baseball?! I don't get that.
I had to re-think this... I was arguing from a point of "which had the worst news that should affect it the most". As for which will be in trouble the most in reality? Baseball - I think MLB could be full of steroid eating, dog whipping, baby killing, serial rapists and America would forgive this sport time and time again. It's the American Pastime (full of Dominicans), so it will always be forgiven. Football - Quite possibly untouchable at the moment. Vick's story is one person... maybe a few others were involved. But this is America's "true sport". It ain't going anywhere. NBA - A ref fixed games - maybe others did as well. Unless something happens that I can't forsee with this case, I think it'll be ok. It's kept its nose the cleanest probably. That takes care of the big 3, so I'll leave the others that I don't watch to the rest of you.
NBA. If I wasnt a Rockets fan, I wouldnt watch professional basketball during the regular season. I still love the playoffs.
I'd say the MLB, obviously the "fixing" of games in the NBA couldn't have been that huge since no one ever noticed anything blatant. Could a ref really change the outcome of a game unless it is a last second thing? Once Barry Bonds hits his homers and retires, ESPN will go back to the Sox and Yanks, and we'll have to listen to hours on end of steroids once again. So Mike Vick killed a bunch of dogs, obviously people using steroids is much more important to the sports community. Not saying that killing dogs should be ignored though, if he did do it he should be locked up for a year or so.
How the answer can be anything other than the NHL, I don't understand. The only league in worse shape than them is the WNBA.
Even if it turns out that Donaghy only bet on a few games and no one else was involved I still believe the NBA has a big problem related to declining ratings. Even the 06 finals which was an exciting match up between two good, fun to watch teams (Heat, Mavs) with multiple stars, ratings were less than stellar. The league is as talented and fun to watch today as it has ever been but you have to wonder how much the “hip-hop” image of the NBA has affected it when it comes to the average (white) fan. On this board basketball will always be king but when I talk to my co-workers and some of my friends they say they can’t relate to the nba the way they can baseball and football. It’s going to take more than dress codes to fix that.
Heck, yes. Two words: foul trouble. The NBA moreso than any sport (other than NHL, I guess, with penalty minutes) can be affected by officials calling BS fouls on players. Those players who sit out with foul trouble can affect the outcomes of games big time.
The "average (white) fan" is slowly coming in from Europe, China, etc. and other continents/nations as well. The NBA/professional basketball is becoming a world sport. So while we scream gangsta this, and how do we get more white people to watch the NBA?, it'll do alright.... i think.
Even before the ref scandal, I would have chosen the NBA. My generation is drifting away from the NBA. Some peers/friends of mine who were big NBA fans 10-20 years ago don't even follow it now and the younger generations (of people I know) aren't nearly fired up as much as we were. The regular season doesn't mean that much to average fans. I think the NBA is losing touch with the domestic audience which is why international growth gets so much attention. Without it the NBA would die off gradually. I'll say this again for the umpteenth time: What's keeping the NBA afloat right now is the abundance of marketable superstars. I can't remember an era with this many exciting top tier players. The 80s and 90s were great but the sheer number of megastars now is holding up the league. This is also a problem because so much NBA enthusiasm is driven by individuals instead of teams. NFL and MLB fan interest is driven by love of teams more than individual players. MLB is next on my list. It started with the strike, which I've never recovered from. I also had a problem with the competitive disparities due to team revenues and free agency. I think that is a joke. Then their handling of the steroid issue completely destroyed my interest in the game. The players union and owners should be ashamed of themselves. I can't take guys like Bonds, Palmero, Giambi, Brady Anderson, etc seriously. They cast a pall over players like Bagwell, Clemens, Luis Gonzalez, Sosa who probably juiced up too. (I actually can't take Clemens seriously either). The clincher was listening to a baseball discussion with an "insider" who said during spring training this year players "are showing up bigger again" after shrinking down the prior couple of years. Hard core baseball fans don't care about this stuff but it turned me off. This will be the first year I can ever remember not watching a single baseball game in it's entirety. Stats and records are also more important to baseball than other sports. Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's all-time record is a tragedy that I now accept. With that comes a numbness of just not caring about baseball any more. Even after the Astros had that incredible run and made the World Series, my pulse for baseball died very quickly afterwards. I have some issues with the NFL but nothing that dampens my interest that much. It remains #2 behind the NBA for me. If I didn't love the NBA so much I would have tuned it out like baseball and the NFL would be it for me.
If baseball can survive a freaking World Series being canceled, I'm sure the NBA will make it through this. Just like the NBA needed the lockout nine years ago to help control player salaries, it really needed this scandal to clean up the officiating. Clearly, Stern didn't want to admit that the officiating was bad. Now, he's forced to act.
