Steven Adams could have been joking when he issued his current warning a couple of looming sports activities efficiency droop, however the huge fella’s predictions about an enormous online game franchise could show to be no laughing matter for the leagues and their media companions.
Throughout a Q&A session with reporters late final month, the Houston Rockets heart parried a question about his dwelling gaming setup with a little bit of tongue-in-cheek prophecy. “You guys ought to anticipate November,” a finger-wagging Adams mentioned through the group’s 2026 media day occasion. “The efficiency … league-wide: GTA is dropping. So, take a look at NFL, take a look at all of the leagues, and watch them plummet, mate.”
Adams’ GTA warning was a nod to the Nov. 19 launch of Rockstar Video games’ long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI. On the heels of quite a few delays and quite a lot of high-profile leaks, the GTA VI launch on PlayStation 5/Xbox Sequence X|S will mark the primary installment of the franchise since GTA V arrived in 2013.
If that earlier title is something to go by, the NBA and each different main sport could discover a pointy decline amongst youthful male viewers, particularly these within the 18-34 demo. Gross sales of GTA V zoomed previous the $1 billion mark a mere three days after its launch; at current, there are some 230 million copies of the sport in circulation. It’s admittedly an apples-to-rocket-launchers comparability, however having generated an estimated $10 billion in income worldwide, GTA V boasts a better valuation than 27 of the 30 NBA franchises.
Predictably, the 13-year await a brand new GTA title has players frenzied for the upcoming launch. Though its ontological standing is considerably flimsy—till the hard-copy PC model of GTA VI arrives someday within the first quarter of 2027, consumers are dropping $79.99 (Commonplace Version) or $99.99 (Final Version) to safe a scrap of paper in a field—6.08 million “copies” of the sport have been bought as of Oct 13. The estimated haul to date: roughly $594 million in income.
The viewers for Rockstar’s half-hour Netflix particular, Grand Theft Auto VI: An Prolonged Look, is additional proof the sport is about to have an amazing influence on American popular culture. Per Nielsen, the primer scared up 31.1 million viewers in its first 4 days on the Netflix menu, making it the platform’s prime English-language movie providing in 87 international locations over the last week in August. Because it occurs, the hype reel additionally has garnered 31.2 million views through the official Rockstar YouTube channel because it was uploaded on Aug. 27.
Paradoxically, Netflix could face a decline in general utilization as players start exploring GTA VI’s world of digitized mayhem. In line with a brand new Hub Leisure Analysis examine, 56% of Netflix subscribers surveyed mentioned they deliberate to purchase the sport or have already pre-ordered it. “For younger players, the sport isn’t a break from their social life—it is their social life,” wrote Jason Platt Zolov, the creator of the Hub report.
Whereas Netflix has dabbled in gaming, the corporate doesn’t supply entry to hit console video games reminiscent of GTA.
Regardless of Adams’ jocular prediction, the prospect of committing atrocities within the digital world of GTA VI is unlikely to throw any NBA gamers off their recreation … though the identical assertion could not maintain up amongst youthful hoops followers. Amazon’s Prime Video bundle could also be at specific danger of dropping floor among the many 18-34 set, because the streamer’s NBA viewers is the youngest by far. Prime’s 2025-26 NBA protection boasted a median age of 46.9 years, a full 9.1 years youthful than the league’s following on linear TV (56 years). This dynamic is in step with Amazon’s younger-skewing NFL deliveries; by means of Week 5, Thursday Night time Soccer is delivering a median age of 48.6 years, down significantly from the league’s TV common (54.8).
In line with the Nielsen information, followers within the hard-to-reach 18-34 demo account for 20% of Prime’s NFL deliveries, whereas the league’s linear-TV companions can credit score round 15% of their impressions to viewers in the identical age vary. Whereas media consumers don’t anticipate a big decline in U.S. sports activities deliveries subsequent month, it’ll be price keeping track of how the youthful viewers segments carry out within the wake of the GTA VI launch.
As a lot as Prime has gone a good distance towards carving out a youthful area of interest for the highest U.S. sports activities leagues, outdated heads nonetheless make up the majority of the TV and streaming viewers. For instance, roughly 55% of the NFL’s viewership falls into the adults 25-54 bin, and followers which have aged out of the related demos altogether are legion. (That advertisers stay allergic to focusing on these older followers and their piles of disposable earnings is as confounding as ever, provided that adults 55+ watch all of the TV and purchase all of the issues.)
Then once more, if Adams’ feedback are any indication of how the cultural dialog will shake out within the run-up to the vacations, maybe no viewers section is protected from the predations of GTA VI. “The coaches and scouts are going to be horrendous as properly—however only for November,” Adams cracked. “However it ought to bounce again in December, hopefully.”
If it’s laborious to think about Rick Carlisle taking down a police helicopter made from zeroes and ones with an equally ersatz bazooka, sports activities could very properly have its fingers full when so many younger Individuals get their grubby little meat hooks on GTA VI. For all that, arguably the sooner or later nobody must fear about digital consideration fracking is Thanksgiving, when even probably the most hardcore players must put down the joystick and decide up a drumstick. In different phrases, the standard NBA/NFL gluttony ought to proceed as deliberate, even when the taller diners on the Youngsters’ Desk are itching to get again to their consoles.