The beginning of the 2025–26 NBA season has been tainted by off-court investigations: the gambling-related arrests of several current and former NBA players and coaches Thursday; plus the alleged salary cap circumvention by the Clippers, which was the story of the offseason.
But the league did get some good news Thursday.
The NBA’s opening-night doubleheader on NBC and Peacock drew 5.6 million viewers on Tuesday, the most-watched opening-night doubleheader since 2010, the network announced Thursday. The number is up 90% from the 2.95 million average of the two opening-night games on TNT last year (Celtics vs. Knicks, Lakers vs. Timberwolves).
The NBA had several advantages that led to a strong viewership number to start the season.
First is a switch from TNT to NBC—which meant a move from cable to broadcast TV for opening night. Moving games to over-the-air channels and streaming platforms was a clear priority for the NBA in its new 11-year, $77 media-rights deal.
Second is Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel methodology. Nielsen announced in August that it would be implementing a new system for measuring its viewership, which has led to increased numbers across all sports leagues, including the NFL and WNBA.
The NBA’s first game of the season also happened to be an instant classic. The defending-champs Thunder edged out the new-look Rockets in double overtime with game-winning free throws by 2025 MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
That game drew an average of 5.85 million viewers, peaking at 7.1 million.
The late matchup between the Lakers and Warriors—which streamed on Peacock until midway through the second quarter because of the extended first game—was not as close. However, despite the absence of LeBron James, the game still drew 5.11 million viewers on the back of Steph Curry and Luka Dončić.
The two big markets have also shown to be the league’s biggest attractions, especially after they drew 7.91 million viewers on Christmas Day last year—the most-watched NBA regular-season game in five years.
The viewership numbers add to what was deemed to be a strong broadcast return by NBC, and could, at least temporarily, dispel discussions of rating declines that hovered over the NBA through the first two months of last season.
