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Comments
Get real.
At the end of The Bulls' run in 1998 the salary cap was 30 million, in 2014 it was 58 million, this year it's 102 million and it's projected to grow to 144 million in the next 6 years.
Nba is on a huge upswing because young people like it.
Golf popularity is on a downswing because older people like it. Young people like tiger though. If he’s done, many young people will not care about golf until the next tiger comes along (it’ll be a while)
No doubt golf needs to promote young talent like Spieth, they are riding a short term gravy train with Tiger, is that really the best long term approach ?
Actually Spieth needs to do his part and get his head out of his ass. He had the gifts to be consistently great, does he have the drive though ?
Does he have the head for it?
Good question.
He has the intelligence, but intangibles like work ethic and desire seem like open questions.
The kid just turned 25 and he's already worth 100 million, that would be a distraction for most 50 year olds.
Tiger ,Jack and the other all time greats all had the drive and hunger even after tasting glory and wealth.
The inflation adjusted numbers (using 2015 dollars)
1998-1999 was 42 million. The average rating was 4.3.
ABC bid for and won the rights for the NBA in 2002. The cap climbed with that deal to 63 million a year or so (inflation adjusted). NBA teams were struggling to make profits and locked out the players in 2011 and the cap went down to 58 million adjusted.
The TV revenue for the NBA was stagnant, unlike football (both college and pro) because the ratings (which were regularly 4.5 or higher with Jordan per game) dropped to an average of 2.5 per season. That's why the lockout happened. The owners were expecting huge increases in TV revenue and it didn't happen. ABC/ESPN who was paying out boatloads for football pretty much gave the NBA an "as is " renewal.
In 2014 the NBA got an actual increase from ESPN... and the cap has taken off with it. But to be honest it largely looks like a last ditch effort by ESPN to keep their model going on TV. Their contract after this one will probably not live up to it because their average viewership the last 3 years has been really bad (below 2.0 in 2016/17)
The NBA is not in good shape past the current TV deal. That deal is masking a problem that is very obvious when you look at the ratings. Casual fans aren't watching.
Tiger is the only reason I know golf is still around. He's good for the sport. But if he were to retire, I wouldn't be offended to not hear from golf anymore.
Nobody has argued there wasn't a post MJ period where numbers were down.
Nobody has argued Tiger hasn't drawn crowds either.
What I have argued is it's past time to promote young talent like The NBA did with Kobe, Shaq, Duncan and other next wave stars in those transition years.
The NBA has exploded globally. Golf will always attract a smaller more elite crowd, they need to look at where the sport is going, just like The NBA did in the early 2000s.
The numbers are still down. 2016 had the lowest average TV rating in the last 40 years (1.9). Where you're incorrect is in thinking the NBA ever recovered to the interest they had with MJ. They're not even at the pre-MJ Bird/Magic numbers. Hockey hasn't recovered to the Gretzky numbers. Nascar hasn't recovered to the Jeff Gordon numbers.
You see the same thing with Womens Tennis... where Serena Williams in a final = big rating and anyone else = crappy rating. Sports based on individual marketing... like golf/tennis/nascar/basketball... they require stars to succeed. And generational stars can't just be replaced by a "regular" star. Tiger/Serena/Gretzky/MJ... these are generational stars. Losing them is hugely negative. I'd argue that in the case of MJ and Gretzky their sports still haven't recovered. It will be the same for Golf and Womens Tennis when Serena and Tiger move on.
TV ratings today can't be compared to the past. Every network has lost a vast percentage of it's audience.
There are near infinite choices now, and that doesn't include smart phone social media, which is now the king.
I'd love to see Spieth become an all time great.
As far as people like you who have no real interest in the game. Those looking forward to golf's future can't worry about what you think.
It's tough to make that jump to all time great. Spieth has not been the same golfer since he blew the lead at the Masters a few years ago despite winning the Open. One advantage for Jordan is his age. He is young and can still play elite golf. Not sure if the killer instinct is still there after giving the Masters away to Willett.
So what does it take to make the leap to all time great? If majors are the bar, I would say you need to be top 20 - 25 to be in the club. I find it interesting that no single era dominates the list.So far, there are only 4 active golfers in this club.
14 majors - Tiger Woodsis 2nd with 14 majors.
5 majors - Phil Mickelson is tied for 14th with six other golfers.
4 majors - Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy. Els would be a long shot to make it into the group. He still plays competitive golf, but his best days are behind him. Rory can make it into the top 20 with another major. He's only 29, and he definitely has the ability to win at least 1 major if not more.
Koepka and Spieth have 3 majors (Immelman is in this group but not a threat to win a 4th). If I had to choose the golfer who gets to 4, it's a coin flip at this point although Koepka has the momentum right now. I would bet on Spieth getting to 5 before Koepka though based solely on his track record of winning tournaments that are not majors.
All time great = top 10 AT LEAST in major wins. Id say at least 8 majors to qualify. Which would be just 5 more, and he's still young.
Really though, he looked like a potential 10 to 12 majors was very possible when he came close to winning 3 in a year while just 21 years old.
Bet this has been said many times in this thread but might need to put some Botox on this initial topic.
That approach where he went from 164 yards to 2 feet. Filthy.
7 majors will get you in the top 10. Well, top 11 because 5 golfers are tied for 7th on the list. It is an impressive list.
Agree with Spieth. His game appeared to set up perfectly for the majors, and looked like he owned Augusta National.