The NBA didn’t wait until the new year to try to turn around its viewership narrative.
Following a five-game Christmas day slate that delivered an average of 5.34 million viewers, 87% more viewers compared to last year, the league announced Monday that viewership on ESPN platforms is now up 5%. Total league viewership is still down 3% when mixing in TNT—which did not have the rights to any of the Christmas games—but it’s a massive change from the 18% drop the league was looking at before the holiday.
Other positive notes from the holiday include the most-watched game of the season between the Warriors and Lakers, which averaged 7.9 million viewers. The Christmas opener between the Knicks and Spurs drew nearly five million viewers, which makes it the most-watched noon ET game since 2011. The finale between the Suns and Nuggets was the most-watched late-night game ever with 3.9 million viewers.
It is worth noting the NBA simulcast all five games on ABC, which it last did in 2022. Compared to 2022, this year’s Christmas slate is up around 23%. However, another advantage the league had this year is the NFL—despite setting streaming records on Netflix—only scheduled two games on the holiday rather than the three it played over the last two years.
Still, the news provides positive momentum for the NBA as the season has been marred by rampant speculation over the cause of the viewership decline through the first two months. The games themselves were also all entertaining, with all being decided by 10 points or less, which could help carry over more fans into 2025.
