The Orlando Magic’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers was the highest rated game this season, a season already marked by high ratings since Dwight Howard left.
If there is any more sign the Orlando magic are starting to gain traction with fans again, it can be seen with another strong performance on television.
Wednesday’s Orlando Magic win over the Los Angeles Lakers was the most-watched game this season, a season that has already featured the best opening night since 2010 and the highest rated game since 2012, when Dwight Howard was still on the team.
While the game itself might have been incredibly frustrating, the fact it was a close game certainly helped spike television ratings. The 2.4 household rating is the highest since an overtime loss to the Miami Heat last February.
Taking everything together, the Magic have had a strong start to the season and appear to be generating some interest that was not there before. The opening night ratings and ratings for the Magic’s first win this season have shown there is renewed interest in the team after three years of almost non-stop losing.
There are several factors which could explain why the Magic have gained sudden interest.
The first is the team is winning more. At 4-5 entering Friday’s home game agains the Utah jazz, Orlando is winning games again. The team has a chance to win and has professed publicly it wants to win. The coach was angry after Wednesday’s win because the team did not perform up to his lofty standards.
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The second is the team has played almost exclusively close games. That generates a lot of buzz and can get social networks buzzing as games come to an end. All those #LeaguePassAlerts build up as fans tell others to tune in and watch a close game late. The Magic have played only one game in their first nine that was decided by more than 10 points.
The third is the return of Scott Skiles. Whether it was calculated or not, Skiles still has a lot of emotional pull within the Magic fan community. He undoubtedly pulled on some nostalgia strings when he was hired as longtime fans were probably more than curious to see how he would do as the team’s head coach.
The bigger question is to ask how the Magic can continue this positive momentum of attention on the FOX Sports Florida broadcast (which itself is probably one of the better local broadcasts in the league).
Winning is the obvious and probably best answer. The Magic have built some nice momentum — they have sold out three of their four home games entering Friday’s game against the Jazz — and that should continue if they can keep winning and get into the Playoff race.
A few more exciting finishes would not hurt keep eyeballs attached to the screen at the very least.