Miami Heat Melodrama Doubled TV Ratings

Miami Heat Melodrama Doubled TV Ratings
The Miami Heat have yet to win any championships with the Big Three of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh, but they have already proved to be among the elite in one category: local television ratings.

Sports Business Journal obtained local TV ratings for 28 of the 30 teams in the NBA this week, and the Heat were the third highest-rated team in the league this season, behind the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz.

Technically that would make the Heat the most watched team in the NBA located in a city that actually has entertainment options and a night life.

The Heat averaged a 4.94 local rating, a 99.2 percent improvement from the 2009-2010 season. That doubling of TV ratings is also the second biggest ratings jump of the past year, behind the L.A. Clippers (whose ratings rose 130 percent thanks to the Blake Show).

In the 2009-2010 season, when D-Wade led the Heat to a 47-35 record and playoff berth, the team drew a 2.48 rating.

What made matters worse is players on the team like Michael Beasley would have rathered tuned in to SpongeBob Square Pants than watch his own team struggle to beat the Toronto Raptors.

But oh how times have changed. And no one likes a good melodrama like a Miami sports fan.

Miami has long been called a bandwagon sports town, where local teams can only draw fans when they win. Now we have more proof.

And what Heat victory would be complete without a mention of the toils of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

LBJ's former team saw their ratings fall 54 percent to 3.93, the steepest decline in the NBA. Not even Anderson Varejao's hair could keep Clevelanders from tuning out the Cavs and turning the tube to see what the fuss is about on South Beach.