Just like the NBA games themselves, free agency has garnered a lot of attention from basketball fans. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver realizes this and intends to move the free agency on July 1, from midnight to a more TV-friendly hour.
As per Sam Amick of USA Sports Today, Silver says the move will take effect next summer:
Adam Silver makes it clear that free agency will be moved up from midnight EST on July 1 to a more reasonable/TV friendly hour by next summer.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 11, 2018
It seems that every summer, something big happens in the free agency market. Either a big-time player signs to a different team or trade agreements are confirmed. Prior to being sealed, rumors circulate around like wildfire. Gossip or confirmed, it triggers chatter among the basketball community.
And just like the games themselves, it attracts debates and discussions among professional critics and armchair analysts. People constantly talk about the game even if it's not being played. And social media — open 24/7– is the medium where such talks occur.
So Silver's move is simply an effort to accommodate more fans — without handing them the chore of staying up late, waiting for the latest blockbuster deal.
As the game evolves, Silver and his team are constantly trying to think of new ways to adapt. This is not the first time that Silver has spoken about adjusting the time. As per Christopher Vollmer and Daniel Gross of strategy+business, Silver has plans of adjusting NBA game times to reach more viewers worldwide:
As the popularity of our game grows outside the United States, in order to reach more viewers it may make sense to start playing at different times. I could see each team once a month playing an afternoon game, for example, when it’s prime time in Europe, or potentially playing a weekend morning game so we are in prime time in Asia.
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