The case of the missing Larry O’Brien Tophy decals continues to light up social media during the NBA Finals, as do the sagging TV ratings.
Before Game 3 in Indianapolis on Wednesday night, NBA commissioner Adam Silver joined the ESPN pregame set and was asked by Malika Andrews if there are plans to “reincorporate” The Finals decals on the court.
Where’s The Finals Glitz?
“I’ve seen some of the chatter on social media about on-court decals,” Silver said. “People don’t realize, they went away a decade ago because there were claims, Kendrick [Perkins] knows … they were slippery when we had them on the court. We’re back to adding them virtually.”
During Game 1, Front Office Sports was among the myriad outlets and personalities clamoring for a return to The Finals pageantry, including the on-court decals. The NBA draws a distinction between decals and painted advertisements. In the past decade since removing the decals, it has not been able to navigate the lead time required to get “The Finals” or the Larry O’Brien Trophy (which went away after 2009) painted—and dried—on the court.
As Silver alluded, during Games 2 and 3, the logos have been digitally superimposed on the court on the ESPN/ABC broadcasts.
Two Small-Market Teams
Silver also put a happy face on the NBA Finals ratings. Games 1 and 2 together averaged 8.84 million viewers. This total is down at least 24% from the past three years and is the lowest since 2007, except for during the Lakers’ bubble championship in 2020.
Silver said that Indianapolis and Oklahoma City are both “completely captured” by The Finals.
“As a media matter, it’s interesting. People compare us to 20 years ago, but Games 1 and 2 are the highest-rated programs in May and June so far on television,” Silver said. “If something beats us, it’ll be another sports program. Back 20 years ago, we often didn’t win the night when The Finals were on. But the absolute rating is lower now.”
Silver acknowledged that the goal was to draw in more casual viewers in a fragmented content marketplace. “We have to be innovative and find new ways—podcasts, social media, direct-to-consumer marketing, new digital platforms that we’re moving to next year; ESPN and ABC are doing the same—it’s a changed society,” Silver said.
Next season, the NBA is exiting its longstanding partnership with TNT, and joining Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service and rekindling its relationship with NBC, which also simulcasts its sports programming on Peacock. ESPN is launching its direct-to-consumer streaming service later this year.
