In Ratings Race, NBA Left in Dust by NASCAR

Sign of the times, seen during last Sunday’s Daytona 500: an advertisement for the NBA All-Star game on TNT plastered all over Jeff Burton’s car.

Meanwhile, a few hours later at Staples Center, the NBA commenced its annual midseason ritual, but did so without a specially embossed NASCAR basketball or the mugs of Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart painted on the backboards.

Who’s No. 2?

Who’s drafting off whom?

In the race to become America’s second-favorite spectator sport, stock cars going in loops continue to hold the lead over multimillionaires playing hoops. It is rally time for the NBA, has been for a while, and yet, the comeback isn’t coming. A nation has turned its eyes from Jordan to Gordon, its ears from hip-hop to country, its sensibilities from posses to pit crews, and there might not be any turning back.

If the NBA’s taking out an ad on the back of a stock car isn’t the last act of concession and capitulation, it is at least an example of textbook marketing. You want to get your brand in front of the people, you put it someplace where the people are watching.

Last Sunday, the people were watching NASCAR. The Daytona 500 was opening day for NASCAR’s Nextel Cup Series, and it was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr., a big name in the sport, on par with Shaquille O’Neal in the NBA. Last Sunday, both Earnhardt and O’Neal added to their reputations by winning important trophies, but in the Nielsens, it was a blowout.

The Daytona 500 on NBC was watched by 33.6 million viewers; the NBA All-Star game on TNT was seen by 8.2 million.

Daytona drew a 10.6 national rating and a 24 share; the NBA All-Stars managed a 5.1 rating and a 9.6 share, equaling the game’s all-time low.

NASCAR had the advantage of putting its showcase on free, over-the-air television, but the NBA All-Star game was also on cable in 2003, and it drew a 6.6 rating with a 12 share that time. Last Sunday’s 5.1/9.6 represented a 23% decrease from 2003.

Twenty-three percent. Michael Jordan’s number. Quite appropriate, considering how fast the NBA was to cite Jordan’s ’03 All-Star finale as the reason numbers had to slide in ’04. David Stern beat the Nielsens to it by at least a week, foreshadowing the ratings dip by reminding anyone who asked that without Jordan, there would be no way the ’04 audience could match ‘03, and did you hear about the decals we put on Jeff Burton’s stock car?

The NBA would like to be able to tout every All-Star game as Jordan’s last; heaven knows, they gave it a go. Barring a fourth comeback by Jordan, the NBA will be left to fend for itself by itself, so maybe next February LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony won’t be consigned to the frosh-soph game, because the varsity event needs all the help it can get.

This Sunday, back to the regular-season grind, the NBA attempts to muster the cavalry. ABC takes over from TNT, bringing in James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Stephon Marbury and the New York Knicks, Al Michaels for his first play-by-play duty since Christmas Day and Byron Scott as a new studio analyst, replacing George Karl.

Will it be enough to keep pace with NASCAR, which moves to Fox this weekend and throws the Subway 400 against the Cavaliers and the Knicks?

Both events start at 10 a.m. The NBA had better brace itself. Ratings for ABC’s first four NBA telecasts this season were down 13% from 2002-03.

And that was during NASCAR’s off-season.

Also available for viewing this weekend:

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TODAY

* PGA Nissan Open (Channel 7, noon)

In a very peculiar 10-part series that ended Friday, USA Today argued that two golfers, Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam, were among the world’s 10 “toughest athletes.”

Golfers? Do golfers even qualify? Did you see photos and footage last week of John Daly, 2004 Buick Invitational champion? And while we’re at it, can you believe USA Today ranked Allen Iverson as the second-toughest athlete behind Brett Favre and two slots ahead of cancer survivor and five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong?

Meanwhile, back at the Nissan Open, Woods and comrades continue to weather the rigors of golf. There could be some rain.

* “The Milan Miracle”

(ESPN Classic, 3 p.m.)

The fabled 1954 Indiana state high school basketball final, in which tiny Milan High School upset Muncie Central, will be aired in its entirety, followed by a live telecast of a game between the current Milan and Muncie varsities. Tune in to see how many “Dream Job” promos ESPN can squeeze in while Milan holds the ball for more than four minutes during the fourth quarter.

* Syracuse at Georgetown (ESPN, 9 a.m.)

Dick Vitale is one of 16 finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame, speaking of miracles.

* Stanford at UCLA (Channel 2, 1 p.m.)

The nation’s top-ranked college basketball team, 22-0, plays at Pauley Pavilion. Remember when that team used to be UCLA?

SUNDAY

* NFL Scouting Combine

(NFL Network, 7 p.m.)

Yes, the NFL scouting combine. When you launch a 24-hour NFL channel, and the calendar is stuck on mid-February, you have to do something to fill the screen, even if it’s overweight men in shorts risking debilitating thumb injuries with grueling stop-watch detail. The NFL Network is showing six days of combine coverage, concluding with, of course, a mock draft on Wednesday. It’s never too early for a good NFL mock draft. Sunday’s focus is on quarterbacks and running backs. Maurice Clarett not necessarily included.

* “Dream Job” (ESPN, 7 p.m.)

“American Idol” meets “SportsCenter.” Yes, it could be that frightening. The first of a six-part series in which 12 survivors from an original pool of 10,000 vie for a “dream job” as an ESPN sports anchor by playing catch-phrase and trying to be more annoying than even Stuart Scott, who has been enlisted as host of the show. Word of caution: One viewer’s dream is another viewer’s nightmare.