In 2023 the NBA introduced the first ever in-season tournament, but just one year removed from first year of the tournament, the NBA is changing the name to NBA Cup. The cup starts off with all 30 teams put in 6 groups of 5. Each team plays the other four teams in their group in a pool-play format. At present, this year’s tournament is entering the knockout rounds.
The groups are formed by record as of last year, so if during the previous season, the Detroit Pistons were one of the worst teams in the NBA, so they would also play other teams similar to their skill record.
All of these games happen in November, and every game counts towards each team’s regular season record except for the last championship game.
The eight best teams with the best record in their four games advance to quarterfinal games. The four teams that win their quarterfinal games advance to the semifinals. And finally, the last two teams standing face off in the NBA Cup championship game.
The NBA Cup championship doesn’t count towards the regular season record, but each player on the championship winning team wins $500,000. The runner-up receives $200,000, the semifinal losers win $100,000, and the quarter final losers win $50,000
The NBA created this in-season tournament to get more viewership and engagement throughout the long NBA season. People prefer to watch games with more on the line than just regular season games.
The tournament’s single elimination format keeps the fans on their toes, keeping them engaged throughout the season, giving the NBA more viewership. Along with the money players get, the winning team gets NBA cup merchandise, and fans have the opportunity to buy it, making money for the league.
The NBA Cup also gives an MVP award to the best player for the championship team throughout the in season tournament. In 2023, the first year of the NBA mid-season cup, the Los Angeles Lakers won and LeBron James was the tournament MVP.
Another aspect to the in season tournament is that teams have special edition courts to play on for the tournament. The courts match their City edition jersey, which they wear all throughout the tournament.
The in-season tournament has already proved to have increased viewership for the NBA. The final last year had a viewership of 4.8 million viewers, a very large and successful amount.
This addition to the NBA season makes it so fans stay engaged throughout the NBA season. Many fans believe that the in-season tournament brings a new light to the NBA season. This was needed for the NBA season because it is long and fans struggle to stay engaged due to lack of important games. The in-season tournament fixes this problem and helps keep fans engaged throughout the season and gives players a large incentive to perform to their best.
