NBA league offices are fearing this match-up. The ratings in Canada don't count for advertising dollars. Small Northwest market. It would without question be one of the lowest rated finals in decades. The last time the Trailblazers won the NBA title I was living in Philadelphia and a huge Sixers fan. In order to watch game live I had to go to banquet hall in South Philadelphia that had PRISM. PRISM was a microwave service for local sports teams that was only available in South Philadelphia. This was the forerunner before cable systems. It was one of the first regional sports channels and eventually became Comcast Sports Net. It was either go to the banquet hall or wait till 11:30pm to watch the 76ers on tape delay on CBS after local news. It's hard to believe that the NBA Finals used to be on tape delay. They would tell you on the local news to turn down the sound and look away from the screen if you didn't want the final score before the tape replay began. It was a joke. The NBA drew such small ratings that they refused to preempt prime time broadcasting for basketball. If you had to go to work in the morning who gives a shit. The game was over around 2am. The Sixers team only featured Dr J. I mean why the hell would you want to air that game in prime time.
