ESPN’s NBA Postseason Viewership Sees 25% Spike Through Semifinals

The NBA continues to rake in big numbers across ESPN and ABC, highlighted by the 7.5 million average during the Celtics’ Game 7 Semifinals victory over the Bucks.

ESPN announced Tuesday that the game had peaked at 9.6 million viewers at 6 p.m. ET — the most-watched NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals game in 10 years — and the largest TV audience on Sunday.

The numbers continue to increase across the board:

• This was the most-viewed postseason (3.7M) through the Conference Semifinals on ESPN, ABC, TNT, and NBA TV in eight years.
• Through 25 games and two rounds, the NBA Playoffs on ESPN/ABC are averaging 4.6 million viewers — a 25% increase from 2021.
• On all NBA television platforms, the 3.7 million viewers is a 14% increase from last year’s shortened season.

Plus, Sunday’s pregame edition of “NBA Countdown” averaged 1.6 million viewers, the most the show has garnered during the postseason.

The network announced in early May that the studio show “NBA Today” was up 33% in April compared to last year.

As the league continues negotiations for new media rights in 2025, their case for $75 billion is only getting stronger.