NBA Cup Year 2: Tweaks, Schedule Concerns, and Growing Pains

The Emirates NBA Cup is still in its infancy, and it’s experiencing some growing pains. After a year that saw double-digit increases in viewership, the tournament is down 10% this year through group play.

But while the NBA Cup was introduced to manufacture more meaningful regular-season games, the league is also keen on making the event’s semifinals and championship game in Las Vegas a tentpole event similar to the All-Star Game.

“Our focus has really been on communicating to fans that you have to be there live,” EVP of global events Kelly Flatow told Front Office Sports.

Been There, Done That

While there may be critics of the NBA’s vision to have fans fly to Vegas for essentially three regular-season games, the league has already established precedent for its goal. The NBA Summer League, which started in 2004, has attracted thousands of fans to Sin City over the past decade, even if most of the players aren’t on official NBA rosters.

But in the Summer League, there is certainty in the participating teams and players, so fans know they will get a first look at the incoming rookie class. For the NBA Cup, the four teams headed to Vegas were decided just three days before the semifinals. That presents a challenge for those attempting to book a trip.

The league’s solution is to create other events in Vegas throughout the weekend. There’s an NBA Creator Cup featuring social media stars, a red-carpet event to introduce NBA players and legends, and even a free throw contest between Stephen A. Smith and one of the members of Inside the NBA. 

It remains to be seen whether those will be enough to sell out T-Mobile Arena for Saturday’s semifinals and Tuesday’s championship game. Last year’s final sold out, but the semis did not, a key reason the league tweaked this season’s schedule. 

Ticket prices have dipped over the last few days after the teams were finalized, according to The Sporting Tribune’s Arash Marakazi. The Rockets, Thunder, Hawks, and Bucks are headed to Vegas—but fan favorite Steph Curry and the Warriors, plus Luka Dončić and the Mavericks, all missed out.

Open to Change

However, the NBA is open to making changes to the Cup, big and small. It made some minor schedule changes this season, and it will continue to review the format in future years—particularly as Amazon comes in as the exclusive rights-holder for the tournament starting next year.

“We could certainly work with our players’ association to make tweaks if we thought they made sense,” Evan Wasch, the NBA’s executive vice president for basketball strategy and analytics, told FOS. “That will be that integrated conversation between Amazon, the league, our teams, and our players’ association to see what could be on the table to really heighten this property even further.”

Another hurdle the NBA may face down the line will be the location for the tournament finale. The event is in Vegas as it is a neutral site with no NBA team—but NBA commissioner Adam Silver has mentioned Las Vegas as a potential site for an expansion team. Last week, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority approved key agreements to build a potential new NBA arena.

While the league seems enamored with Vegas for the event moving forward, Flatow said “no decision” has been made yet on the location of next year’s event.