The NBA has been in hot water to start the 2025–26 season, following gambling-related arrests of three current and former NBA players and allegations of salary-cap circumvention by the Clippers.
But that hasn’t deterred fans from watching games through the league’s first week, combating an issue that plagued it through most of last season.
The NBA drew 2.8 million viewers through the first week of the season on national games (NBC, Peacock, ESPN, and Amazon Prime Video), the league’s most-watched opening week in eight years, according to Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel measurement process, which has boosted viewership numbers across all sports. The addition of Adobe Analytics data for NBC games also changes the calculus, as past data considered only Nielsen’s panel data.
The games are the first under the NBA’s new 11-year, $77 billion media deal.
The viewership numbers were fueled by the opening-night doubleheader on Oct. 21, the NBA’s first games on NBC since 2002, which drew 5.6 million viewers (including Peacock), up 90% vs. last year’s opening-night games on TNT.
Prime Video also streamed its first NBA games Friday, drawing 1.25 million viewers, up 13% compared to the same games last year, which aired on ESPN. The year-over-year growth bolsters the case for streaming against cable channels.
It’s important to note, however, that the early game (Knicks vs. Celtics) drove most of the growth, up 41% compared to last year’s game (Knicks vs. Pacers). While both games aired simultaneously with the World Series, last year’s series featured the Yankees, therefore cannibalizing the New York market.
ESPN, the lone incumbent in the NBA’s new deal, still showed strong numbers, averaging 2.2 million viewers across four games, its second-most-watched opening week since 2014. Only 2023 drew more viewers, driven by the NBA debut of Victor Wembanyama.
Social media numbers have shown the league’s continued growth, as the league drew more than 2.1 billion views on its social platforms, the most for any opening week.
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