Bronny James should boost ESPN's NBA Summer League ratings

ESPN enjoyed great ratings for its 2023 NBA Summer League coverage, thanks in large part to last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Victor Wembanyama.

This year, the rookie who might move the ratings needle went nowhere near No. 1, but he brings plenty of star power. Bronny James, who the Los Angeles Lakers selected with the No. 55 overall pick, has generated huge buzz on sports talk shows and social media, and he’ll be under a microscope this season.

His first test comes Saturday, when the Lakers kick off their summer league action against the Sacramento Kings at 4:30 p.m. ET in the California Classic in San Francisco.

ESPN will broadcast four of the Lakers seven summer games, so it knows fans are interested in seeing Bronny in action.

The network enjoyed a ratings boom last summer when Wembanyama made his NBA debut . According to Sports Business Journal , ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU averaged 310,000 viewers for its summer league broadcasts. That ranks behind only 2017, when the networks drew 322,000 viewers.

Much of that interest involved Wembanyama. His summer league debut drew 1.38 million viewers, the second-highest for any ESPN summer game (Zion Williamson’s summer league debut in 2019 attracted 1.61 million).

Bronny is obviously not a generational talent like Wembanyama, but being the son of LeBron James has created great curiosity among fans since the Lakers drafted him. Some sports media personalities think it’s a travesty the Lakers drafted a player who’d been a non-factor in one season as a college player. Fox Sports Radio’s Rob Parker called it “the worst decision that has ever happened in professional sports.”

Others believe it’s an incredible feel-good story, LeBron realizing his long-held dream of playing in the NBA with his son .

Plenty of people will be watching to see how the story unfolds. ESPN stands to reap the benefits in its NBA Summer League coverage as fans tune in to see the son of LeBron.

Other NBA Summer League games featuring the Lakers on ESPN or ESPN2 (all times ET):

• July 10,  7 p.m. vs. Miami Heat (ESPN2)

• July 12,  7:30 p.m. vs. Houston Rockets (ESPN)

•  July 17,  10:30 p.m. vs. Atlanta Hawks (ESPN)

• July 18,  9:30 p.m. vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (ESPN)

[ NBA.com ]

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