The Atlanta Hawks need your help to change their poor local ratings

Of the 30 teams in the NBA, the Atlanta Hawks have some of the worst ratings in the entire league. They have one of the most exciting young groups of players and unfortunately Bally Sports South only rates 0.88 which is in the bottom third of the league.

What is really difficult to understand though is the fact that the Denver Nuggets have been a perennial playoff team with a two-time MVP and they sit at the bottom of the ratings. It is almost a crime that Nikola Jokic is playing the basketball that he is and the ratings for Altitude are only 0.19.

Still, Trae Young is a once-in-a-generation player himself and the Hawks faithful are not supporting the team in the numbers that they need to be. There are only seven teams with lower local television ratings.

What impact will this have on the Atlanta Hawks?

There is a fairly major impact on these teams that cannot command good ratings. The NBA schedules games that will give them the best exposure to maximize their advertising revenue which in turn impacts things like the salary cap further down the road.

In an effort to get better ratings the NBA has even lowered the cost of its streaming service to be more in line with the rest of the market. However, the impact is not just on the salary cap for franchises, it goes deeper than that.

The Hawks did not get a game in rivalry week, nor did they get a Christmas Day game which, in this scribe’s opinion, is a huge mistake by the league. This then impacts a player’s opportunity to put his case forward for All-NBA selection, or to enhance a player’s defensive reputation which can impact the way that referees call the team’s play.

So Atlanta Hawks fans, the call is out. This team needs your support if they are going to get the respect that they deserve.