The NBA’s downward viewership trend to start the 2024–2025 season has seeped into the Emirates NBA Cup.
Viewership of the NBA Cup’s group play averaged 1.33 million viewers on ESPN and TNT, a 10% dip versus last year, the tournament’s inaugural season. The networks split 14 nationally televised games, with TNT averaging 1.5 million viewers for its eight games and ESPN drawing 1.16 million viewers for its six.
There are several hypotheses regarding the NBA’s early-season viewership decline—including TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal positing that the volume of three-pointers has made the game repetitive. The NBA has also dealt with additional competition this season: A battle of powerhouses in the World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees that drove a seven-year viewership high, the presidential election, and the Mike Tyson–Jake Paul fight—which set historic streaming numbers.
The NBA has also dealt with a slew of injuries to its stars. Luka Dončić, Victor Wembanyama, and Paolo Banchero are some of the key names who have missed nationally televised NBA Cup games.
With the quarterfinals starting Tuesday night, seven more NBA Cup games remain during which the NBA can try to catch up to the 1.49 million viewers the tournament averaged last season. Of the eight teams left, only one is missing its biggest stars—the Magic, who are without both Banchero and Franz Wagner.
The NBA Cup semifinals begin Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. A 4:30 p.m. ET game will air on TNT, truTV, and Max. An 8:30 p.m. matchup will be broadcast on ABC, which will also air the NBA Cup championship game on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Amazon Prime Video will own the rights to the tournament once the league’s $77 billion media-rights deal kicks in.
