NBA fans had some positive and negative thoughts about ESPN’s “Marvel Arena of Heroes” broadcast of the Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans game.
Earth’s mightiest heroes haven’t gathered on screen for Marvel fans in over a year, but on the small screen, they’ve been giving fans of the superhero genre plenty to enjoy.
First came WandaVision. Then came The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. And then, on Monday night, ESPN’s “Marvel: Age of Heroes” broadcast of the Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans game took centerstage.
This Marvel-themed NBA broadcast is basically Disney flexing its muscles now that it owns the rights to both Marvel and ESPN, but it was a creative idea to reach new fans, particularly in the lower age bracket.
NBA Twitter had mixed reactions to the charming telecast, which was littered with Avengers references, neat in-game graphics and a unique scoring system that rewarded six designated players — Stephen Curry (Captain Marvel), Draymond Green (Doctor Strange), Andrew Wiggins (Black Panther), Zion Williamson (Captain America), Brandon Ingram (Black Widow) and Lonzo Ball (Iron Man) — with one “Hero Point” for every point, rebound, assist, steal and block they recorded, while taking one away for every missed shot, free throw and turnover.
NBA fans, of course, gave their thoughts on the telecast during the game.
As is always the case with something different and admittedly kind of cheesy, there were plenty of people were weren’t big fans of the Marvel-themed broadcast and probably switched over to the traditional broadcast on ESPN instead:
However, much like the NFL’s playoff broadcast on Nickelodeon a few months ago, plenty of people were enjoying the crossover, the charming graphics and even the cheesy commentary aimed at winning over new viewers
The Warriors jumped out to an early lead, but for those wondering if we’ll see any future crossover telecasts like this again, we may have to see what the TV ratings look like.