The NBA agreed to a historic $77 billion media-rights deal over the summer, and it may be fortunate to have secured the deal before this season given low viewership numbers to start the year.
Last week’s prime-time NBA games—Tuesday on TNT and Wednesday on ESPN—saw significant viewership declines compared to comparable games last season, according to Sports Media Watch.
The Western Conference finals rematch between the Mavericks and Timberwolves averaged 1.07 million viewers Tuesday, down 17% versus last year’s game between the Knicks and Cavaliers. Numbers for TNT’s second game between the Pelicans and Warriors were not made available.
Wednesday’s games on ESPN—an Eastern Conference finals rematch between the Celtics and Pacers and a rivalry game between Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs and Chet Holmgren and the Thunder—drew 1.01 million and 730,000 viewers, respectively. The first game was down just 2% versus Pelicans-Thunder last year, but the nightcap dipped 51% versus Lakers-Clippers.
The NBA was up against the last two games of the World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees, which—driven by star power and major markets—was the most-watched Fall Classic since 2017.
However, viewership for most of the NBA’s opening-week slate was also down double-digit percentages, with the exception of the historic father-son debut of LeBron James and Bronny James Jr.
New Faces Needed
It was easy to point at viewership decline for the NBA’s opening week as each game of the Wednesday doubleheader featured two teams with injuries to star players. (The Sixers were missing Joel Embiid and Paul George, while the Clippers played without Kawhi Leonard.)
However, while the Week 2 slate was up against the World Series, none of the featured teams were missing star players.
One of the NBA’s issues may be the diminishing star power of the league’s aging mainstays. The NBA’s biggest draws for the last decade have been LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, and while all three of their teams have started the season strong, none were expected to be in championship contention entering the season.
The three stars showed their viewership pull when they teamed up with Team USA in the summer during the Paris Olympics. The gold medal game was the most-watched Olympic men’s basketball game since 1996.
This week may be the best example of where the NBA’s viewership stands as all three veteran stars will be on ESPN. Wednesday night’s slate included Curry’s Warriors facing the Celtics in a rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals. On Friday, Durant’s Suns play the Mavericks, and James’s Lakers face the Sixers—who will still be without Embiid, this time due to a suspension.
Young stars like Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker have yet to attract the same audience as the aforementioned trio, in part because of their lack of titles. They’ve fallen behind international players like Nikola Jokić and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who, despite their success, haven’t been able to compel U.S. viewers quite like James, Curry, and Durant.
There has also been an ongoing debate about the devaluation of the league’s regular season, which the NBA is attempting to resolve with the second year of an in-season tournament, now called the Emirates NBA Cup, which starts Nov. 12.
