Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban has always been one of the most progressive and forward-thinking minds in sports. Now his latest idea suggests a new way to boost NBA ratings without shortening the season, a change many fans and experts have wanted.
Mark Cuban Suggests Shorter NBA Games to Boost Engagement
Cuban’s main point is that shorter games increase television and streaming ratings, as viewers enjoy games more when they require less of a time commitment. Cuban believes that shorter games will increase engagement among fans in the arena watching live, as well as those watching on television and streaming on the league app.
On Saturday, Cuban quote-retweeted a suggestion from The Ringer’s Bill Simmons. Simmons suggested shortening the season to 72 games to alleviate the NBA’s tanking problem and proposed that the games themselves be shortened to 40 minutes, which is the length of college basketball, the WNBA, and international play.
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Cuban argued on his X post that reducing NBA games to 40 minutes would be equivalent to cutting more than 13 games from the season without affecting arena contracts. He points out that this format already works for college, international, and WNBA games.
“Make the games 40 minutes. 8 x 82 / 48 = 13.667,” Cuban posted. “That’s the equivalent number of games you would reduce the schedule by. Without breaking arena leases. Works for college. Works for international. Works for the WNBA. AND. If you looking at tv and streaming ratings, the less the actual playing time for a televised game, the bigger the ratings. Ie, the less time fans have to focus on a game, the more they enjoy watching it on tv.”
As a former NBA owner, Cuban knows the league would never shorten the season because of arena leases and media commitments. In another post, he argued that a shorter season would be beneficial because it would lead to more frequent upsets throughout the year.
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Furthermore, a shorter game will increase intensity as the margin for error shrinks, and there will be fewer minutes to spare for marginal players. “The more I discuss this with @claudeai, the more I believe it increases parity,” Cuban said. “Shorter games = more upsets.”
Cuban’s theory in his tweets may not carry the same weight as before, now that he is a minority NBA owner. However, it cleverly keeps fans engaged as the league aims to improve its product.
