WEBVTT - Ethan Strauss HATES The IST

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<v Speaker 1>We gotta talk about this post in season tournament drama

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<v Speaker 1>thanks to Ethan Strauss of the House of Strauss substack.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna start with the fact that I like Ethan Strauss.

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<v Speaker 1>Ethan Strauss isn't afraid to say we'll call him intentionally controversial, fiery,

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<v Speaker 1>We'll call it the counter take. He's the king of

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<v Speaker 1>the counter take, right, and he's, as we would say,

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<v Speaker 1>a curmudgeon. I like that about Ethan Strauss, not afraid

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<v Speaker 1>to not maybe to anti suck the NBA's dick. He's

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<v Speaker 1>the kind of guy who shits on your favorite thing

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<v Speaker 1>because he is a hipster, right, anything that's popular. Ethan

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<v Speaker 1>Strauss hates and I like Again, I like Ethan Strauss,

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<v Speaker 1>but he is here to tell us. Now, Ethan Strauss,

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<v Speaker 1>what we saw with our own eyes. I like the

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<v Speaker 1>n season twournament. Thought it was successful, thought it was good.

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<v Speaker 1>We are wrong. Actually, the end season tournament, according to

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<v Speaker 1>Ethan Strauss, is a complete and utter failure. Close it up,

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<v Speaker 1>move on. Nothing to see here. Folks got to say

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<v Speaker 1>the words flop. Okay, Ethan Okay, So this is his point.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a simple, glasses, It's a simple in season tournament

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<v Speaker 1>Excel spreadsheet, get your goggals and your calculator out return

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<v Speaker 1>on investment because the NBA apparently put too much time,

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<v Speaker 1>too much money into the ist for what he calls

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<v Speaker 1>pedestrian returns his evidence. The semifinals in Vegas got one

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<v Speaker 1>point six million viewers for Bucks Pacers and two point

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<v Speaker 1>two million for Lakers Pelicans. He says those are numbers

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<v Speaker 1>that quote look like the regular season, and then says

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<v Speaker 1>that the first round of the playoffs got four million viewers.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes you see shit and you think to yourself, this

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<v Speaker 1>can't be a real take, this is not. Maybe I'm

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<v Speaker 1>wrong in how I'm reading this. I was speechless. I

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<v Speaker 1>get it. Ethan. You're the squeaky will. That's what you

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<v Speaker 1>want to do. You want to tell us why everything

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<v Speaker 1>we like sucks. You're the voice of descent. You're the

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<v Speaker 1>one pointing out that we are not high brow enough,

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<v Speaker 1>we are not seeing the world the right way. And

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<v Speaker 1>as someone who likes to point out that people aren't

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<v Speaker 1>seeing the world the right way, I understand it. Some

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<v Speaker 1>people just do it, though, because they want to do it,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is Ethan Strauss. In some cases they're right,

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<v Speaker 1>but not in this one. You cannot judge a game

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<v Speaker 1>in December against the playoff game, even like, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I see what you're doing. You know, I see what

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<v Speaker 1>you're doing and I don't like it. That is disingenuous

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<v Speaker 1>on every level. You cannot compare a regular season game

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<v Speaker 1>in December to a playoff game. What you should do

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<v Speaker 1>is compare a regular season game in December this year

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<v Speaker 1>to a regular season game in December last year. We

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to see what it was like to have some intensity.

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<v Speaker 1>Back it up, hold on. Really, the whole plan was,

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<v Speaker 1>can we just get back to basketball? Can we just

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<v Speaker 1>get back to these guys giving a shit on a

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<v Speaker 1>random Tuesday? Apparently, yes, five hundred thousand dollars is enough

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<v Speaker 1>to get people to care about meaningless regular season games that. Frankly,

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<v Speaker 1>before this year, no one cared about. Everyone was load managing.

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<v Speaker 1>We didn't know who we were gonna see on a

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<v Speaker 1>nine to night basis. There was nothing to be excited

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<v Speaker 1>about until post All Star Breakdow trade deadline, and now

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<v Speaker 1>we're talking to Ethan and guess what it worked. On average,

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<v Speaker 1>the n season tournament games had a ratings boost of

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<v Speaker 1>thirty percent. Apparently, according to Ethan, that's not enough in

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<v Speaker 1>its first year. Mean, do I need to remind people

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<v Speaker 1>that Amazon failed miserably for like ten straight years. It

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<v Speaker 1>lost money. Social media impressions went through the roof for

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<v Speaker 1>the N Season Tournament that this is the first season

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<v Speaker 1>we're talking about here, and it was already poppin'. See

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<v Speaker 1>he doesn't know what's popping. Strauss wrote his screed before

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<v Speaker 1>the ratings for the finals of the IST were released.

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<v Speaker 1>Turns out that was a mistake because the n Season

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<v Speaker 1>Finals were six million viewers. In other words, the largest

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<v Speaker 1>audience for a non Christmas Day game in the last

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<v Speaker 1>six years. Ooh shsh. The other thing that annoys me

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<v Speaker 1>about this article was that his statement that Netflix pulled

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<v Speaker 1>out of televising the IST because the ratings were tepid.

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<v Speaker 1>That's just not even true. Come on, dude, Netflix was

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<v Speaker 1>never going to televise the first season of the N

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<v Speaker 1>Season Tournament, and their interest in working with the NBA

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<v Speaker 1>waned not because it's not a good idea, but because

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<v Speaker 1>their first attempt at televising lia Is Sports aka the

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<v Speaker 1>Netflix Cup flopped so bad that they had to go

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<v Speaker 1>back to the drawing board. Friend of show, Sam Vassini,

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<v Speaker 1>the voice of Real Reason had this to say. The

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<v Speaker 1>NBA is obviously hoping to package this as a value

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<v Speaker 1>add to their impending rights negotiation that will likely involve

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<v Speaker 1>both streamers and traditional cable networks. Yeah, this is just

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<v Speaker 1>a cherry on top, not the actual pie. What are

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<v Speaker 1>we talking about? This is first year was designed to

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<v Speaker 1>be a lost leader for the NBA. With the money

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<v Speaker 1>that they put into marketing colorful floors, jerseys, etc. Etc.

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<v Speaker 1>It takes time to build a brand, Ethan, and you

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<v Speaker 1>know this man. His final point was that the ist

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<v Speaker 1>was about bringing in new viewers, which I think is

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<v Speaker 1>entirely wrong. I think the premise of that is misguided.

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<v Speaker 1>I think the ist was to bring back viewers that

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<v Speaker 1>frankly no longer care about the NBA because why players

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<v Speaker 1>don't care. There's nothing to be worried about in December,

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<v Speaker 1>there's no meaning behind it. We don't know if they're

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<v Speaker 1>going to compete, etc. Etc. Etc. And the casual fan

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<v Speaker 1>interested in something other than the playoffs was that we

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<v Speaker 1>want old fans, old curmudgeons like Ethan. Apparently they're not

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<v Speaker 1>gonna watch, but I do think people who are in

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<v Speaker 1>their fifties and sixties, they want to have something to

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<v Speaker 1>circle their calendar about and they did. And casual fans

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<v Speaker 1>want to have something to circle for their calendar, and

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<v Speaker 1>they had that as well. And the ratings indicate that

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<v Speaker 1>in this manner, the nd season tournament was a success.

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<v Speaker 1>Old media guys that they're the new wave. They love

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<v Speaker 1>to talk viewership numbers, save that for Barrett Sports Media.

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<v Speaker 1>Strauss wrote, we're basing success on viewership because that was

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<v Speaker 1>the whole point of the tournament, and that completely ignores

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that the biggest NBA audience, people under forty,

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<v Speaker 1>simply do not subscribe to cable. Ethan, and you know

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<v Speaker 1>this man, he knows all this. I don't have to

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<v Speaker 1>explain it to him. The ist by any metric, including viewership,

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<v Speaker 1>is a success, was a success, and will be even

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<v Speaker 1>more a success, despite what old men or middle aged

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<v Speaker 1>men like Ethan yelling at clouds would like to