Warriors and Kings fans are lucky. They can always watch their favorite NBA team at a reasonable time, and even watch Eastern Conference stars beforehand thanks to start times on the West Coast.
Those on the East Coast, however, aren't as lucky. NBA commissioner Adam Silver realizes this is an issue for half of his league's fan base, especially with the Warriors on the West Coast and LeBron James leaving the Eastern Conference for the Lakers last summer.
"Sometimes I forget, fifty percent of television households in this country are in the Eastern time zone," Silver recently said on NBC's TODAY. "And so if your West Coast games start at 10:30 at night in the East, you’re invariably going to lose a lot of viewers around 11, 11:30. I mean, you can just chart it.
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SIGN UP HERE "You see how many television households turn off around 11:15, 11:30 at night, just because people have to get up for work in the morning."
How does the NBA fix this issue? Silver says the league is looking at solutions, and that can significantly affect teams like the Kings and Warriors.
"I mean, it is something we can address. We’re talking about it," Silver said. "I mean, it would obviously be less convenient to those fans on the West Coast if we played even earlier. I mean, just think about people getting to those arenas after work if you start a game at 6 p.m. local time in the West.
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"It’s not the most convenient thing. It’s not as convenient for a television watcher on the West Coast, either."
Silver has to look at the league as a whole, however, and think more nation than local.
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"When you look at the league from a national standpoint, it may make sense to play a little bit earlier in the West," Silver said. "And that’s something we’re going to talk to our teams about this summer.”
Those looking to go to a game in Sacramento or San Francisco might not like it, but it seems almost inevitable that start times to games could be bumped up in the near future.
