When the Sixers hit their lowest point during a multi-year rebuild, one of the many arguments against "The Process" was the idea that it would drive some fans away for the foreseeable future. Philadelphia's rapid rise on the court appears to have disproven that theory, and now there are numbers to back it up.
Wednesday night's broadcast of their season-opening game against the Boston Celtics achieved a 4.9 rating on NBC Sports Philadelphia, the highest opening game on the network since all the way back in October 2003, when Allen Iverson took on a Miami team led by Lamar Odom, Eddie Jones, and a rookie Dwyane Wade. In other words, Dwyane Wade had a 16-year, Hall of Fame career in the time between numbers this good locally.
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Add on a 3.1 rating locally for the ESPN broadcast of the game for a combined 8.0 cumulative rating, and you have an indication of the interest level in the Philadelphia area for this Sixers season.
If the mood in an NBA arena is any sort of reflection of local interest, you would have been able to guess this was a big event locally just by listening to the crowd on Wednesday night. New Sixers acquisition Josh Richardson couldn't help but notice the response, calling it a "playoff atmosphere" before making an observation about Philly fans at the expense of the late-arriving crowd in Miami.
"They were on time, that was great," Richardson said after the game Wednesday. "We've got 17 guys who can contribute who are tough players, who are hard-nosed players, that's Philly. I think they'll appreciate that."
Pregame coverage also saw a bump leading into the year, with Pregame Live's 1.0 rating the highest opening night average on NBC Sports Philadelphia in the station's history.
Anyone trying to tie this to Eagles fatigue after a brutal loss on Sunday Night Football, however, should acquaint themselves with how huge football is in this market. According to a recent press release from NBC, Sunday's Eagles-Cowboys disaster on NBC had an absurd 33.5 rating in the Philadelphia market, absolutely dominating the evening in the area. Interest in the Sixers is trending upward, but football remains the king.
But hey, at the very least, they are a welcome breath of fresh air as fall kicks into gear, and with more nights like Wednesday, the Sixers will have the attention of the entire city soon enough.
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