Reasonable minds can differ on just how bad the NBA viewership decline is for the league after it just raked in nearly $80 billion on its broadcast deal, but Bill Simmons believes the league is leaving a lot of meat on the bone with its “antiquated” schedule format.
In the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, the Sports Guy brought on Ringer NBA analyst and University of Texas sports business professor Kirk Goldsberry to fix the outdated model and give the NBA more shine on the sports calendar. The crux of their plans is that sports in the 2020s are built around the “attention economy,” which has several new wrinkles compared with the traditional television schedule and sports pecking order of the 1950s or 60s when the NBA formed.
Simmons put his support behind a new model in which the season starts in early December and stretches through early May, with 10-15 fewer games. That would allow the NBA to avoid the bulk of the football season while soaking up the open period in mid-summer.
Is it time for the NBA to not only shorten the season but start it later?@BillSimmons and @kirkgoldsberry discuss the potential benefits of adjusting the structure of the NBA season. pic.twitter.com/GOn5x6Jzfh
— The Ringer (@ringer) March 13, 2025
July and August used to be no-gos in the media business, but streaming platforms and online content creators have broken that tradition. Plus, baseball is not the beast it used to be in those months from a sports standpoint.
By adjusting to the new realities of sports and media, Simmons believes the NBA can solve many of its engagement issues.
“If you shorten the season and then move it, and it’s a month longer and now I’m concentrating all my best stuff in May, June, July, that’s how you win,” Simmons said. “And this is how they have to think. And if they don’t start thinking this way, I’m going to really start thinking that they need new leadership at the top. I know they got this giant media deal, but these are easy fixes that they should do.”
Beyond the simple number of games and the timing of the season, Simmons believes this schedule would set apart the league’s marquee events even better. The entirety of the new NBA Cup would take place later in the football season, the All-Star game would be given less emphasis, and rather than the Las Vegas Summer League getting shine in July, the NBA Finals would get that spotlight.
Of course, moving the season around is a much easier sell than whittling down from 82 games. Goldsberry revealed that the initial plan for the NBA Cup in-season tournament was to create a big, leaguewide event to generate revenue that could offset losses from playing fewer games. Only once teams realized they could do the tournament and still play 82 games, that idea won out.
“Somebody needs to do a better job of convincing owners and players that somehow we’re going to make the same amount of total revenue if we drop the games to 70, 69, whatever we decide,” Goldsberry said. “Because right now, that’s the case that has failed to make it across the table and land with the owners and that’s the simple reason why we still have 82 games.”
For going on 15 years since the San Antonio Spurs popularized “load management” of their veteran stars, it has been clear that the NBA had a problem. Despite media tirades, fan complaints and rule changes, NBA teams still strategically rest players to counter the rigors of playing 82 basketball games in six months and stay fresh either for the postseason or for future seasons.
If anything, the guaranteed TV rights revenue for the next decade should give the NBA the cushion to tinker and finally face down that problem.
“How much f***ing revenue do you need?” Simmons pressed. “We’re going to have guys making $75 million a year, how much is enough? You just signed a $76 billion deal. Do what’s best for the sport, try to grow the sport, and this is the best way to do it.”