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ABC was already on a torrid viewership pace for the NBA Finals. Now the series has truly reached monster levels.
The Disney-owned network said that Monday’s Game 3 from Madison Square Garden, won by the Spurs, averaged 23.8 million viewers. That figure is up by a whopping 159% from the comparable game last year, and represents the most-watched NBA Finals Game 3 broadcast on any network since 1998. It’s also the most-watched NBA Finals game since the Warriors’ series-clinching victory in Game 5 in 2017, which averaged 24.47 viewers.
Notably, the game was the most-watched program of any type on U.S. television since Super Bowl LX in February.
The latest figure adds more than 7 million viewers beyond the average of 16.43 million that Game 2 last Friday posted, and now pushes the NBA to an audience level more commonly seen for playoff Game Sevens in various major sports, or for a better-than-average NFL regular-season game.
Through Game 3, the NBA Finals is now collectively averaging 19.1 million viewers, up 114% from a year ago and the second-best such mark ever on ABC and ESPN.
Viewer Appeal
This year’s Spurs-Knicks matchup already featured a revival of the 1999 NBA Finals, the presence of budding NBA superstar and San Antonio center Victor Wembanyama, and a New York team seeking its first league title since 1973.
The allure of the series then ratcheted up even further with the shift to the MSG setting, the presence of many celebrities along the arena’s famed courtside seats, and a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump at the game. There, Trump became the first sitting president to attend a NBA Finals game.
The NBA Finals is only part of a run of championships for ABC and sister network ESPN, which is aiding in the production of the games. The broadcast network is also airing the Stanley Cup Final, typically airing on alternating nights with the NBA Finals. Through its own Game 3, the hockey series is averaging 4.9 million viewers, up by 101% from a year ago and the best such level since 2015.
The audience boosts for both the NBA and NHL—representing a sizable boon for Disney—also are far outstripping the lift of around 10% to 15% seen in many sports broadcasts as a result of Nielsen methodology changes such as Big Data + Panel.
