ESPN’s NBA draft ratings included some bad news as well as some good news.
ESPN and ABC combined to average 3.77 million viewers for the first round on Wednesday night.
Last year, which was the first time that ESPN/ABC separated out the first round as opposed to airing the whole draft in one night, the networks combined to average 4.41 million viewers. Therefore, Wednesday’s numbers represented a 14.5% decline.
However, the first half-hour was up 4% compared to last year, boosted by the star power of Cooper Flagg.
Even though it was a certainty effectively since last year’s draft that Flagg would be selected first overall, his aura grew as he was an electric performer in nationally watched games at Duke. Adding to that, the scenario of the Mavericks improbably winning the draft lottery after trading away Luka Dončić this past season gave Flagg’s destination some increased intrigue.
The general trend will continue to be a greater proportion of first-round NBA draft picks having played at least one year in college, as NIL (name, image, and likeness) and now revenue-sharing make it worth their financial while. Even though this year’s numbers were down, ESPN’s draft audience numbers should theoretically benefit from the fact that more people will be watching these players in actual competition as opposed to learning about them through YouTube highlights.
In 2023, the full draft averaged 3.74 million viewers across ESPN and ABC. According to Sports Media Watch, the first round, when French phenom Victor Wembanyama was the top overall pick, averaged 4.93 million viewers.
