Shaq Said It, Fans Proved It: The NBA’s New Reality

The NBA is in a TV ratings slump, and even legends are concerned about the future. Shaquille O’Neal put it bluntly: “This new era of humans f–ked it up…” Further voicing his anger on ‘The Big Podcast,’ he said, “Golden State came in and changed it and you made a great point, it’s a copycat league. Everybody wants to be Steph Curry, but everybody’s not Steph Curry and that’s why viewership is down.”

Shaq had reasons to be angry. The league is averaging 1.76M viewers per game, with the 5% Y-O-Y decline continuing to be a troubling trend. Despite powerhouse matchups featuring LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, fans are tuning out – just look at this graph:

Notably, the 2025 NBA All-Star Game was the second-least-watched in history, with viewership dropping 13% from last year. Meanwhile, high-profile matches in other leagues are soaring:

So, if sponsors start questioning their NBA investments, they won’t be wrong. And the problem isn’t just declining numbers—it’s the fans shifting their attention elsewhere.

NBA Viewership is Slipping—And Fans Are Watching Something Else

​​The NBA’s decline is part of a larger industry trend. Cord-cutting and fragmented streaming rights make watching games expensive and inconvenient. Consider these figures:

📉 Primetime Viewership Is Dwindling

But the NBA isn’t making it easier to watch. A pulse check among fans tells us the root causes of the problem.

 1. Excessive Load Management:

 2. Fast-Paced, High-Scoring, Low-Tension Games:

3. Franchise Identity Is in Perpetual Motion:

For its brand partners, it immediately translates into a bigger challenge: the rising cost of acquiring new customers, thanks to fewer eyeballs. Contrarily, as NBA viewership is declining, college sports are thriving.

In 2018, ESPN’s most-watched NCAA Women’s Basketball match, Notre Dame vs Mississippi State, garnered 3.6 million eyeballs. Cut to six years later, the Iowa-South Carolina showdown netted a whopping 18.9M viewers across ESPN and ABC. Is it a surprise that brands are considering NCAA games as the next big player in the arena?

The Rise of College Sports as a Marketing Goldmine:

In the last few years, TV ratings for women’s basketball have skyrocketed. There is little surprise that brands are investing heavily in college athletes. Angel Reese, as an LSU grad, walked with 26 endorsement deals, including heavyweights like Mercedes-Benz, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Beats by Dre.

Brands are capitalizing on the stars’ huge social media and TV exposure. Without any extra effort, March Madness has constantly outpaced the NBA finals. In 2023, SportsPro media reported that 18.1M fans tuned in for the championship game, compared to 16.1M for the 2022 NBA finals.

It’s clear proof: college matches are thriving, beating the overall industry trends in the pro arena. Brands have taken notice as well, with giants like Nike roping in more college athletes. In fact, they started partnering with up-and-coming stars even before they entered college.

Brands Are Pivoting toward College Basketball

Nike added JuJu Watkins to its roster even before she became part of the Trojans team. That allowed the apparel giant to target the ever-growing fanbase of the 19-year-old star. In a similar vein, JBL joined the NIL bandwagon quite early and perhaps with more vigor than any other brand. 

How did that pivot come about? And why is JBL so laser-focused on college athletes? We caught up with Chris Epple, vice president of marketing for the Americas at Harman, for an in-person chat in New York for our second ES Think Tank Season 2 episode. Here is what we learned.

But before that, tell us…

There was a time when JBL was tying up with teams – New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, and more. Then, around 2021, they shifted away from that strategy to focus on athletes. To be more specific, college athletes. In 2023, JBL shook hands with LSU basketball star (and rapper) Flau’jae Johnson. It has paid rich dividends, as the metrics below show. But more importantly, it was a stepping stone for grander things to come. 

With time, they have expanded beyond basketball. Last year, the audio giant launched JBL Campus, an initiative that brought 25 of the best collegiate athletes from 45 American Universities. It included rising stars like Hunter Dickinson & Kevin McCullar Jr. from the University of Kansas, Emma Carpenter, Women’s Golf from the University of Minnesota, Jaiden Fields, Women’s Softball from the University of Georgia, and others. 

But what was the reason behind this transition from teams to athletes, from the professional arena to the field of college sports? Our host, Trey Holder, let Epple set the stage with this question. When quizzed about it, Chris Epple explained, “One of the things I always say is leagues give you scale, and they give you reach, teams give you local relevance, but it’s the players who tell stories.”

So, how did Epple’s team achieve that? The answer is deceptively simple: authenticity. 

This incident from last year stands as the epitome of that. Danny Stutsman of the Oklahoma Sooners wanted to donate $50K of his NIL money to the walk-ons. JBL accepted the proposal but also elevated it by offering every walk-on a package of JBL gear. The fact that the brand will walk the extra mile for walk-ons is actually not a surprise. 

They never looked at statsheets before picking a player. Epple emphasized, “Our first filter is always ‘Do they have interesting stories to tell?’” Authentic storytelling is how JBL found a way into Gen Z’s hearts: 

Epple went on to add, “We have a term called ‘making voices heard.’ We really want to make sure we’re representing the voice of Gen Z. The people feel like with this brand, I have a platform to make a difference. That also speaks authenticity.”

By roping in college athletes, JBL is getting a lifetime of value. Because when these college athletes are going home, when they are hanging out with friends, they are using a JBL boombox, or they are recommending a JBL speaker to their friends, or their cousins. In the long term, that builds a loyal partnership. It can very well translate into an inserting JBL speaker when they buy a car.

Of course, it helps JBL connect with a younger demographic. But at the same time, let’s not forget the alumni. By connecting themselves with college students, brands can actually tap into the attachment and passion that past graduates have toward their alma mater or college team. Don’t just look at the followers count; look at what the athletes represent. That’s how brands like JBL are nailing the marketing game.