Disney’s torrid championship month is continuing with more strong viewership totals from the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final.
Last Friday’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals on ABC, won by the Knicks, averaged 16.43 million viewers, up 88% from the comparable game last year, and it was the highest Game 2 since the Cavaliers-Warriors series in 2018.
Combined with a similarly robust Game 1 last week, the NBA Finals thus far is now averaging 16.68 million viewers, up 89% from 2025, and also the best such figure in eight years.
Big Hockey Audiences, Too
The results are the latest in what has been one of the best runs of primetime programming in recent network history. The NHL’s Stanley Cup Final, also airing domestically on ABC with production support from sister network ESPN, is similarly up by a whopping 101% from a year ago with an average audience of 4.9 million viewers through three games, the highest initial result for that event since 2015.
Last Saturday’s Game 3, won by Vegas over Carolina in double overtime, boosted that total with an average audience of 5 million viewers, up 117% from the comparable game last year on TNT Sports and the most-watched Game 3 in 24 years across all networks.
The audience boosts for both the NBA and NHL also are far outstripping the boosts of around 10% to 15% seen in many sports broadcasts as a result of Nielsen methodology changes such as Big Data + Panel.
Both series have also been greatly aided by close outcomes throughout, with each of the three hockey games thus far decided by a single goal and all three of the basketball contests involving come-from-behind victories. Network expectations for Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday, a Spurs win at Madison Square Garden, are particularly high. That number will likely be released on Wednesday.
Network Lift
ABC had five straight nights last week of alternating primetime coverage of the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final, and is in the midst of a similar, four-night run this week. That scheduling is creating a programming back-and-forth on consecutive evenings that likely benefits both championship series.
The Stanley Cup Final will resume Tuesday with Game 4 between the Hurricanes and Golden Knights, with Vegas holding a 2–1 series lead. Game 4 of the NBA Finals, meanwhile, is set for Wednesday, with the Knicks leading 2–1 over the Spurs.
The title series are a welcome dose of good news for Disney as ESPN is bracing for another wave of layoffs. Disney stock, meanwhile, is still down more than 11% for the year to date as it continues its transition under new CEO Josh D’Amaro.
The importance of these series to the company was further emphasized when D’Amaro, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro, and former Disney CEO Bob Iger all traveled to San Antonio last week for the start of the NBA Finals.
